HALLMARK CHANNEL BETS BIG ON MAJOR ACQUISITIONS
STAR POWER AND EXCLUSIVE CABLE TV PREMIERES CORNERSTONE OF FAMILY-FRIENDLY NET'S OPPORTUNISTIC DEALMAKING
"Seraphim Falls," "US Marshals," "Open Range" and "Stone Cold" On Tap For Summer/Fall 2007
Betting on big returns in audience and ratings, Hallmark Channel has announced star power and exclusivity will be the cornerstone of the network's opportunistic acquisitions for Summer/Fall 2007.
Hallmark Channel has become a Top Ten giant in cable TV through its Hallmark Original Movies. But bold acquisitions (like audience favorite and prime time ratings winner with 4.1, "March of the Penguins") have also paid off for America's premiere family-friendly network. This Summer and Fall, Hallmark Channel will supplement its brand defining, original movies with blockbuster acquired theatricals to ensure that the network continues to be the number one destination for quality movies.
Big stars (all lead actors are Oscar� and Golden Globe winners and/or nominees) continue with familiar themes (police dramas, detective thrillers and the American West) to provide Hallmark's now 83 million subscribers with "the very best" of movies to premiere on cable.
SERAPHIM FALLS
When a former Union soldier suddenly finds himself hunted by a man he is connected to through a mysterious event in their pasts, it begins a deadly game of cat and mouse which neither of them may survive in "Seraphim Falls," a World Television Premiere, exclusively on Hallmark Channel, Winter 2007. Academy Award� nominee Liam Neeson and Golden Globe Nominee Pierce Brosnan star in the Western tale of revenge and obsession.
OPEN RANGE
When cattlemen who make their life off the land are told the land is no longer theirs to roam, a battle of wills leads to a deadly confrontation in the Hallmark Channel Premiere of "Open Range," Saturday, July 14 (9/8c). Once again displaying his love for the American West that led "Dances With Wolves" to seven Oscars�, Academy Award� winner Kevin Costner directs and costars with Academy Award� winner Robert Duvall and Academy Award� nominee Annette Bening in the tale of free-range ranchers who are forced to defend a way of life that is vanishing all-too-quickly from the West.
US MARSHALS
When a routine prisoner transport flight takes a deadly turn, Sam Gerard must hunt down a new, cunning fugitive who may be far more than he appears to be in the Hallmark Channel Premiere of "US Marshals," Saturday, August 25 (9/8c). Reprising his role from "The Fugitive," for which he won an Academy Award�, Tommy Lee Jones heads an all-star cast which includes Academy Award� nominee Robert Downey, Jr., Wesley Snipes and Joe Pantoliano.
STONE COLD
A self-destructive Los Angeles homicide detective is forced to leave the big city to become the chief of police of a small town, which will soon have more need for his skills than anyone could imagine in the Cable Television Premiere of "Stone Cold," Saturday, August 4 (9pm/8c) on Hallmark Channel. Golden Globe winner Tom Selleck stars as the title character, based on the series of novels by Robert B. Parker. Beginning with 'Stone Cold,' Parker's novels have lead to four Jesse Stone films thus far, all of which will air on Hallmark Channel in the coming months.
Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 83 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,300 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in Prime Time and Total Day household ratings and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel.
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