HUMANITY'S LAST HOPE. EXPLORING "TERRA NOVA"!

The Human Race's existence is threatened within it's very past in TERRA NOVA. Image: FOX

With sneak peek material shown during August's UK EMPIRE BIG SCREEN event drawing in very positive responses from the crowds, things are gearing up steadily for the UK and US premiere (26th September) of Steven Spielberg's future/past Dinosaur epic TERRA NOVA.

Here's a behind the scenes featurette on the ambitious new series: TERRA NOVA - First Look Featurette - YouTube and TERRA NOVA - Behind the Scenes: Weapons Training - YouTube


Here's the most recent press material for the new series from SKY ONE HD:

The much-anticipated TERRA NOVA, from Academy Award winner© Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, Brannon Braga, René Echevarria and Aaron Kaplan, will launch with a two hour special on Sky 1 HD in Week 40 (Saturday 1 – Friday 7 October, 2011) within days of its US launch.

TERRA NOVA follows an ordinary family on an incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a daring experiment to save the human race. In the year 2149, the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped and overcrowded, with the majority of plant and animal life extinct. The future of mankind is in doubt, and its only hope for survival is in the distant past. When scientists unexpectedly discovered a fracture in time that made it possible to construct a portal into primeval history, the bold notion was born to resettle humanity in the past – a second chance to rebuild civilization and get it right this time. Jason O’Mara commented: We know that kids of all ages will want to watch, but we think that grown-ups, both male and female will find it quite addictive too. There are some serious human questions being dealt with and there is some pretty serious human drama. All of this is offset by the family story at the centre of the series that yields some genuinely heart-warming Spielberg moments and plenty of lighter ones too. We're hoping people will come to see the dinosaurs, but will stay because they want to follow these characters and their adventures in this amazing world.” TERRA NOVA centres on the Shannon family as they join the Tenth Pilgrimage of settlers to “Terra Nova”, the first colony established in this beautiful yet forbidding land. Jim Shannon (Jason O’Mara,Life on Mars, Monarch of the Glen), a devoted father with a checkered past, guides his family through this new world of limitless beauty, mystery and terror. Jim’s wife, Elisabeth Shannon (Shelley Conn,Mistresses, Strike Back), is a trauma surgeon and the newest addition to TERRA NOVA’s medical team. Josh Shannon (Landon Liboiron, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Life Unexpected) is their 17-year-old son who is angry to leave life as he knows it behind; upon arriving at the settlement, he finds himself instantly drawn to the beautiful and rule-breaking Skye (Allison Miller, 17 Again, Blood: The Vampire). Maddy Shannon (Naomi Scott, Life Bites), Josh&r! squo;s endearingly awkward 15-year-old sister, hopes TERRA NOVA will give her a new chance to reinvent herself. Although Elisabeth’s medical training secured the family a spot on the pilgrimage, a secret involving their five-year-old daughter, Zoe (newcomer Alana Mansour), soon endangers their place in this utopia. Upon the Shannon’s arrival, they are introduced to Commander Nathaniel Taylor (Stephen Lang,Avatar, Public Enemies), the charismatic and heroic first pioneer and leader of the settlement. Taylor, along with his right-hand man, Guzman (Mido Hamada, 24), warn the travellers that while TERRA NOVA is a place of new opportunities and fresh beginnings, all is not as idyllic as it initially appears. Along with blue skies, towering waterfalls and lush vegetation, the surrounding terrain is teeming with danger – and not just of the man-eating dinosaur variety. There is also a splinter colony of renegades led by the battle-hardened Mira (Christine Adams, The Whole Truth, TRON: Legacy), who is vehemently opposed to Taylor and his leadership. Even more threatening than what lies outside the protective walls of the colony is the chilling possibility that something sinister is happening inside TERRA NOVA. The Shannons will come to suspect that not everyone on this mission has the same idea of how to best save mankind; in fact, there may be forces intent on destroying this new world before it even begins. TERRA NOVA is shot in the hinterlands of Australia, a location we chose because its spectacular natural vistas and exotic plant life best evokes the Cretaceous era in which our series is set.  Cutting-edge visual effects bring to life the never-before-seen denizens of this era; in consultation with famed paleontologist Jack Horner, we designed our dinosaurs to reflect the latest theories about what these animals actually looked like.  TERRA NOVA is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television, Chernin Entertainment, DreamWorks Television and Kapital Entertainment. Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, Brannon Braga, René Echevarria, Jon Cassar, Aaron Kaplan, Katherine Pope, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Craig Silverstein and Kelly Marcel serve as executive producers. Alex Graves serves as executive producer and directed the series preview. TERRA NOVA is distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution.