Cabler AMC has announced that its six-hour limited series event The Prisoner, starring Jim Caviezel and Ian McKellan, will launch on Sunday, November 15th at 8 pm ET/PT.The cabler will air three two-hour installments over three consecutive nights, with subsequent installments airing on Monday, November 16th and Tuesday, November 17th.
In this remake of the classic British cult series, Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ) plays Number Six, a man who finds himself the unwitting titular prisoner of The Village, a strange and surreal settlement overseen by the nefarious Number Two, played by Ian McKellan (Lord of the Rings). The Prisoner also stars Jamie Campbell-Bower (The Twilight Saga: New Moon) as Number 11-12, Hayley Atwell (Brideshead Revisited) as Number 41-5, Lennie James (Jericho) as Number 147, and Ruth Wilson (Suburban Shootout) as Number 313.
The Prisoner was written by Bill Gallagher (Conviction) and directed by Nick Hurran (Little Black Book).
Here's how AMC describes the six-hour limited series:
"The Prisoner tells the story of a man, "Six" (Caviezel), who wakes up to find himself inexplicably trapped in a mysterious and surreal place, The Village, with no memory of how he arrived. As he frantically explores his new environment, he discovers that Village residents are identified by number, have no memory of any prior existence, and are under constant surveillance. The Village is controlled by one man - the sinister and charismatic "Two" (Ian McKellen). Throughout the series, "Six" and "Two" are locked in a battle of wits, as "Six" challenges the oppressive nature of The Village and struggles to learn the truth behind it."
AMC's nine-minute clip reel for The Prisoner, shown this summer at San Diego Comic-Con, can be found below.
The Prisoner launches November 15th at 8 pm ET/PT on AMC.
Comments
Granted the original series may not be for everyone. There's a 1960s low-budget campiness that might turn off some modern viewers, but the writing remains absolutely first-rate, even 40 years later. And there's a truly surreal aspect to the old episodes that is almost hypnotic at times, and impossible to duplicate. Not to mention, if you make it through all 14 episodes over the next month, you will be rewarded with the single most bizarre, confounding and jaw-droppingly unconventional series finale you will ever see. That's a promise.