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The Saint's Blog devoted to news and rumors about The Saint and Leslie Charteris. Simon Templar, alias The Saint, was played by Roger Moore in the 1960's TV show featuring the Volvo 1800.
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Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Adam Rayner is The Saint on TV in 2013
Last Friday, the news broke on the latest television incarnation of Leslie Charteris' famous sleuth, Simon Templar, alias The Saint. There have been many rumors about a new show since the 1997 Val Kilmer movie, with such stars as James Purefoy and Dougray Scott attached to them. After years of perseverance, it appears that the efforts have finally paid off and a new TV show of The Saint will start filming in January 2013.
Therefore with much fanfare and trumpeting, it's time to meet the new Saint!
Adam Rayner as Simon Templar, alias The Saint
 Adam is English, just as most people expect Simon Templar to be. The Saint has always been English at the heart, with a well-travelled cosmopolitan history that blends him into a true man of the world.
Adam Rayner most recently starred as the lead role in the TV series, Hunted, and is also known for his work on Doctor Who, Making Waves, and Hawthorne.
He has a wealth of TV shows and movies to watch, as Leslie Charteris first authored the Saint in 1928, and it has been in constant rotation ever since.
Eliza Dushku as Patricia Holm
 Playing Simon Templar's on-again-off-again love interest and partner in crime, Dushku's role of Patricia Holm will hopefully recapture some of the years of history between the two.
The show Burn Notice seems to have borrowed heavily from this classic interaction, and it works!
Eliza Patricia Dushku is probably most famous for her appearances on the TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and she did play the role of the teenage daughter in the classic spy thriller, True Lies.
Production Team:
- Roger Moore, co-Producer, the original Simon Templar of the 1960s
- Geoffrey Moore, co-Producer
- Lulu Moore, co-Producer
- Louisa Macdonald, co-Producer
- Simon West, Director
- Jesse Alexander, Screenwriter & Executive Producer, best known for his work on Lost
- Brad Krevoy, Executive Producer, MPCA Production Company
- Roman Viaris, Executive Producer
- Fred Fuchs, Production
- Silverscreen Pictures
- Mandy Sherman, Casting, Sherman/Knight
- Sari Knight, Casting, Sherman/Knight
- Michael MacDermott, Product Placement
- Francisco J. González, International Sales
- Ian Dickerson, Creative Consultant
No network are attached to this project as of yet. The plan is to shoot the pilot and shop it around.
Production is slated to kick-off this Friday, December 14 in Los Angeles, London and Toronto. Filming to be scheduled in 2013 in Los Angeles and San Diego, with other locations to follow as the series progresses.
Labels: #TheSaint, 2012, Adam Rayner, Dougray Scott, Eliza Dushku, Geoffrey Moore, Ian Dickerson, James Purefoy, Leslie Charteris, Roger Moore, TV
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for Adam Rayner is The Saint on TV in 2013  
Monday, April 25, 2011
As first reported here in December of 2007, James Purefoy is finally at last all set to play the new Simon Templar in the forthcoming TV series of The Saint. We may have jumped the gun a bit back in 2007, but we weren't wrong -- just early!
James Purefoy has written an introduction to Ian Dickerson's The Saint on TV, in which he talks about his forthcoming role as Simon Templar. Shooting is reported to be slated to start in July 2011 in New Orleans.
The newest version of The Saint is being produced by Cajun Pictures who've acquired a pilot script written by William J. MacDonald and Burl Barer.
James Purefoy, who will play the new Saint, was screen tested for the role of James Bond in 1995 for Goldeneye, and throughout 2004 and 2005 Purefoy's name was rumoured as a possible candidate to replace Brosnan as agent 007 in future James Bond films. These rumors surfaced again before the 2006 film, Casino Royale.
In December 2007, James Purefoy was first rumored to have been cast in the role of Simon Templar alias The Saint, and that was put on-hold due to production issues and his role in The Philanthropist. In 2011, it appears that Purefoy is coming back to the role of The Saint!Labels: 2011, Bill MacDonald, Ian Dickerson, James Purefoy, Roger Moore, TV
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for James Purefoy as Simon Templar alias The Saint
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
From Double O Section:Tradecraft: Purefoy's Saint Series Dead?
Here's some truly disappointing news to start off the week. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Barry Levinson-directed revival of The Saint, which was set to star the perfectly-cast James Purefoy as Simon Templar, "didn't go forward." Apparently Purefoy is instead opting to star in a different show with a very similar premise, The Philanthropist. (It really could have been an ITC title in the late Sixties; I'm surprised they didn't think of it!) Says the trade, "Philanthropist centers on a renegade billionaire (Purefoy) who uses his wealth, connections and power to help people in need no matter the risks or costs." That's pretty much what Simon Templar does, the only real difference being that his wealth is ill-gained. The Reporter ends its report on The Philanthropist with this brief statement on The Saint: "Earlier this year, CAA-repped Purefoy was attached to The Saint, an independently produced two-hour backdoor pilot with Levinson on board to direct, but the project didn't go forward."
"Didn't go forward?" So what does that mean? Is the project dead? Will it still go forward in the future, but with another star? All LeslieCharteris.com (the premier site for Saintly information) can add at this point is that shooting on the pilot has been delayed until "at least August" because of a possible actors' strike. (Such a strike seems very unlikely at this point.)
Muddying the waters further is how incestuous this whole Saint/Purefoy/Philanthropist triangle really is. The original producers on The Philanthropist were Levinson and Tom Fontana, both of whom were also on The Saint! They've now been replaced, however, by Battlestar Gallactica and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys producer David Eick. So were Levinson and Fontana really developing such similar projects simultaneously? Or did The Saint somehow morph into The Philanthropist? That seems an unlikely scenario, given that the trade states The Philanthropist got a 13-episode order from NBC nearly a year ago. More likely, the shows aren't really as similar as they sound in loglines.
Whatever the tangled web behind the scenes, this story saddens me. As I was just saying earlier this month, I was really looking forward to this newest incarnation of The Saint--and primarily because of Purefoy's involvement. I hope that the matter is not yet said and done, and that we still might somehow see a James Purefoy Saint series sooner or later. Labels: 2008, Barry Levinson, James Purefoy
12 comments
for Purefoy Not Going Forward as The Saint
Monday, July 21, 2008
From The Hollywood Reporter:James Purefoy circles NBC series
Network execs had been courting 'Rome' star
By Nellie Andreeva
July 21, 2008, 01:00 AM ET
NBC is closing in on its "Philanthropist," with Brit James Purefoy in negotiations to play the lead in the midseason drama series.
"Philanthropist," from UMS, centers on a renegade billionaire (Purefoy) who uses his wealth, connections and power to help people in need no matter the risks or costs.
NBC brass had courted Purefoy for some time, including flying the "Rome" star from the U.K. to Los Angeles for a meeting.
The casting of the lead comes nearly a year after NBC gave the project a 13-episode series order and three months after the network put it on its 2008-09 schedule.
It also follows the recent change at the helm of "Philanthropist," with David Eick taking over following the departure of original writer/executive producer Tom Fontana and exec producer Barry Levinson.
Peter Horton is set to direct the pilot for the series, which is slated to premiere in the Monday 10 p.m. slot in midseason.
Earlier this year, Purefoy, repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, was attached to "The Saint," an independently produced two-hour backdoor pilot with Levinson on board to direct, but the project didn't go forward. Labels: 2008, Barry Levinson, James Purefoy
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for Purefoy to Join NBC's Philanthropist
Friday, July 04, 2008
Filming in Detroit on the $10 million television pilot “The Saint” has been delayed until at least August because of a possible actors strike, the show’s producer said.
“We’re just now awaiting some word on the disposition of the Screen Actors Guild negotiations and then will proceed most likely in mid or late August,” Bill Macdonald, senior producer at Saint Productions Inc. said in an e-mail to Crain’s Detroit Business.
The two-hour television pilot, a remake of a 1960s British mystery-spy thriller television series, was supposed to film in Detroit in May and June.
Talks between Hollywood studios and television networks and the 120,000-member Screen Actors Guild broke off Monday, hours before the union’s deal expired with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The dispute centers on new media and DVD payments for actors. No strike vote has been taken.
The pilot, originally meant for the TNT network, is being independently produced and shopped around.
Filming was earmarked for Detroit to take advantage of the state’s new 42 percent rebate, which pays back 42 cents on every dollar spent in the state on approved productions.
Darryn Welch, CEO and producer of Berlin-based production and financing company Instinctive Film, which is also involved in “The Saint” pilot, declined comment. A call to Nehst Studios in New York City, another production and film finance company, was not returned.
Grace & Wild HD Studios in Farmington Hills was bidding against Hollywood on the film processing work for pilot. Such work typically costs $120,000 to $150,000, Ginny Hart, vice president of sales at Grace & Wild, previously told Crain’s. The studio has the state’s only film lab.
Hart couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. It’s unclear if the studio won the film processing job.
“James Bond” actor Roger Moore played the lead character, Simon Templar, in the 1960s British television series and is among the producers involved in the remake. A 1997 feature film of the same name starred Val Kilmer.
The new proposed series is set to star British actor James Purefoy, probably best known for his role as Mark Antony in HBO’s “Rome.”
Macdonald and writer Jorge Zamacona aligned with Moore and his son, Geoffrey, in 2004 to form Templar Entertainment Group, aimed at getting a new “Saint” series on television, according to the Web site and blog www.saint.org, which is devoted to the show, movies and novels by “Saint” creator Leslie Charteris.Labels: 2008, Detroit, James Purefoy, William J. MacDonald
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for Possible strike stops Detroit production of TV pilot
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Lots of comments and thoughts are coming in on the recent posting with details of the plot synopsis of the upcoming James Purefoy TV show of The Saint. Let us all know what you think! Speak Up!Labels: 2008, James Purefoy
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for The Readers Speak Out!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
 The official website of Leslie Charteris (www.lesliecharteris.com) tells us that The Saint was represented at Cannes recently by Arsenal Pictures -- who had some rather nice teaser artwork and the following synopsis to promote the upcoming TV show starring James Purefoy:Simon Templar is part of a secret organization known as 'Knights of the Templar'. He's responsible for enforcing the group's code of ethics against the criminal underground of the world. Those familiar with 'Knights' know Simon Templar by one name: The Saint. His current assignment has him in Montenegro, rescuing captive children from being sold on the black market. When the operation is finished, Templar discovers that one of the children is missing. An orphan once himself, he vows to rescue the lost boy, no matter what the cost. Waiting for him in Paris is Patricia Holm, an intelligence specialist and Templar's lover. She has information that a crooked businessman named Carger is responsible for the children's abductions; however, the Knights learn that Carger is now into much bigger things. The Saint is ordered to find Carger and steal a treasured relic that, if made public, could ignite a spectacular holy war. When he discovers Carger has also been keeping the missing orphan as his own son, Templar must decide between his own personal convictions and his duties as The Saint. Labels: 2008, Barry Levinson, James Purefoy, TV
18 comments
for James Purefoy as The Saint: Teaser and Plot Synopsis
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
 Well, we thought that headline would get your attention. Okay, so the real point of this story is that James Purefoy was at the Sex in the City movie premiere looking very much like Simon Templar in a tuxedo. Does he look like The Saint now?
"Sex and the City," the movie, premiered in London Monday night, May 14th, it opens in America on May 30.
James Purefoy will play The Saint in a new TV pilot that is in the works for 2008.Labels: 2008, James Purefoy, Sex in the City
1 comments
for James Purefoy at Sex in the City
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Production: The Saint (Television)
Location: Detroit
Employer: NEHST
Duration: May-June 2008, starts May 2008
SAG artist contracts
Director: Barry Levinson. THE SAINT - SHOOTING IN DETROIT - CASTING IMMEDIATELY on www.screentest.biz
The Saint – TV pilot directed by Barry Levinson - a remake of the famous Roger Moore TV series, produced by NEHST Studios. Principal photography will be in Detroit from May through June, with international scenes shot in Budapest. The Saint will be played by James Purefoy recently starring in HBO’s “Rome”.
We are looking for local talent for a variety of speaking roles. The casting process is happening right now. The shooting schedule is tight, so do not delay and visit :
www.screentest.biz
Look in Casting Call, screen right, under “TV Series.” And sign up now.
Apply to: FRAN
Breakdowns:
1. Male / 41-50 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
Claude Eustace Teal An inspector at INTERPOL. Lean, strong, “a man of no vices”. A brilliant tactician. American. Happily Married. SERIES REGULAR
2. Female / Any yrs. / Latin American.
Patricia Holm age range 20-40 yrs old Striking, Tall, lean, maddeningly sexy, dirty blonde, extremely fashionable (very New York). Has an exotic accent - “hazy mix of Spanish, Creole, and Dutch”. Her relationship with Templar is unique and can often lead her into the path of danger. SERIES REGULAR
3. Male / 31-40 yrs. / Middle Eastern.
Baldwin Aleppo Handsome. Middle Eastern. Mystical. Has a long history with Templar that has formed a friendship that is often fraught with conflict. SERIES REGULAR
4. Male / 61+ yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
Jerome Creedy 60’s, the director of INTERPOL. Toupeed. Bureaucratic, a pain in the ass. A bad temper. RECURRING
5. Male / 51-60 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
Hollis McCarthy Lantern-jawed, square, “not to be messed with”. Ex-military. Dark-souled. Spiritual. RECURRING
6. Male / 51-60 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
Delano Carger Pale, poisonous, deluded, brilliant, charming, self-righteous. Short but lethal, i.e. Napoleonic Complex. President of Apollyon Antiques. Manages the human trafficking of children displaced from the Tsunami and other disasters. GUEST STAR
7. Female / 18-24 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
Emma Carger’s assistant. Young, petite. Horribly abused and embarrassed by the unspeakable treatment she faces from Carger.
8. Male / 31-40 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
Jasper Wells Lean, imposing, a stone-cold killer. Works for Delano Carger. Sells children into slavery and sex-slavery for Carger.
9. Female / 25-30 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
Lydia Carger 20 years younger than her husband, Delano Carger. Very attractive AGE 20-29 years old
10. Female / 31-40 yrs. / Black - African.
Agent Lena Owensby African-English. Very Pretty. Speaks before she thinks
11. Female / 25-30 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
Siri AGE 20-29 YRS OLD Green eyes, beautiful. Stoic and anguished over the kidnapping of her son.
12. Male / 0-5 yrs. / Any Ethnicity.
Paolo Siri’s green-eyed boy. 3-5 years old.Labels: 2008, Barry Levinson, James Purefoy, NEHST
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for Want To Be In The Saint TV Show?
Thursday, April 24, 2008
 This article from the Daily Mail crossed our desks today:James Purefoy bulks up - and grows his hair - to play The Saint
By BAZ BAMIGBOYE, 24th April 2008
Saintly: James Purefoy will be growing his hair long for the role of Simon Templar.
James Purefoy, who received a scar or two while filming his last movie, is busy getting into shape — and growing his hair — to play The Saint.
The two-hour TV film will shoot in New York and Leslie Charteris's hero has been updated to contemporary times.
But Roger Moore, who played The Saint in the Sixties, will be keeping an eye on the proceedings, because he and his son Geoffrey are among the team of four producers who picked up the rights to produce new TV versions of Charteris's tales.
Purefoy's Simon Templar will still be smartly attired and cool, but he'll have more of a kick-ass attitude.
'He gets more into the thick of the fighting,' someone close to the project told me.
If the pilot works, Purefoy will sign on to do more.
He has just finished playing comicbook hero Solomon Kane and received some cuts and bruises doing fight scenes. He had his hair cut off to play Kane, but needs his mane again for his turn as Templar. Labels: 2008, James Purefoy
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for Daily Mail: James Purefoy Bulks Up to Play The Saint
Monday, March 10, 2008
"The Saint" is marching back to television via a contemporary take on the Leslie Charteris' books, with James Purefoy in talks to topline as the debonair international thief Simon Templar.
Producers Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana, writer Jorge Zamacona, feature producer Bill Macdonald, Roger Moore -- who played Templar in the 1960s British series -- and his son Geoffrey Moore are all involved in the project.
Levinson is set to direct the two-hour TV movie/backdoor pilot, which will be produced independently and then shopped to the networks.The project is backed by Nehst Studios, a financing, production and distribution company that recently partnered with Lexicon Filmed Entertainment to share $250 million from private-equity sources to finance features, TV series and Web series.
Macdonald has been associated with "Saint" on and off for 17 years. In 1991, he acquired the rights to the books for producer Robert Evans. The two went on to produce the 1997 feature starring Val Kilmer as the dapper adventurer.
In 2004, Macdonald teamed with Zamacona and Roger and Geoffrey Moore to bring the "Saint" franchise to television. The four formed Templar Entertainment Group, through which they acquired the TV rights to Charteris' novels.The new "Saint" series was created by Zamacona, who penned the pilot script, and Macdonald.
The project was originally set up at TNT, which announced it as part of its 2007 development slate last March.TNT later passed on it, and the rights reverted to the producers. Macdonald and Zamacona might have gone the traditional route -- trying to find a new network home for the show -- if it hadn't been for the writers strike.With development activity in Hollywood screeching to a halt and Macdonald and Zamacona joining the picket lines, the producers began to mull producing the pilot and the potential series independently and seeking a network partner later.
They were well into raising financing for the project when the strike ended. "The strike changed our strategy because no one knew how long it was going to be, but producing the project independently gives us a lot more creative freedom," Macdonald said.During the strike, Zamacona approached Levinson and Fontana, who had given him his first writing job on "Homicide: Life on the Street." The two came on board to executive produce "Saint" with Macdonald, Zamacona and Geoffrey Moore, and Levinson agreed to direct.
"One of the things we lost a little bit of in the movie but want to bring to the TV series is that Simon Templar is very funny character with great lines and situation humor, and I don't think there is anybody better than Levinson to tackle that," Macdonald said.
The producers then went after Purefoy, who recently starred on the HBO/BBC series "Rome," which was co-created and executive produced by Macdonald.Casting is under way for the other key parts in the pilot: Inspector Claud Eustace Teal, the Interpol agent in charge of tracking Templar; Templar's romantic interest/assistant, Patricia Holm; and his enemy-turned-partner in crime, Baldwin Aleppo.
Filming on the two-hour telefilm, whose script was reworked after the strike, is expected to begin in April in Budapest, Hungary, New York and Puerto Rico.The project is funded for seasons to come, Nehst founder and chairman Larry Meistrich said.
"We are committed to financing the pilot and deficiting the potential series," he said.Added CEO Ari Friedman, "I think it's a really good time for a project like this, and we are confident we can find a home for it."The two-hour movie/backdoor pilot model was used successfully to launch an updated version of another classic action-adventure series, "Knight Rider," which is expected to be picked up to series by NBC after the movie scored big ratings last month."Saint" was packaged by CAA. Levinson is repped by ICM.
Roger Moore starred on, produced and directed several episodes of the original British "Saint," which ran on ITV from 1962-69 and in syndication in the U.S. from 1963-66 and as a summer series on NBC from 1967-69.
In the past 10 years, there have been two attempts by broadcast networks to remake the series. In 2000, UPN teamed with director John McTiernan and ATG, while ABC took a stab at the franchise in 2004 with writer Stephen Nathan and "American Idol" producer FremantleMedia North America, which owned the rights at the time.Labels: 2008, Barry Levinson, Bill MacDonald, Cat out of the Bag, Geoffrey Moore, James Purefoy, Roger Moore
4 comments
for New take for 'Saint' series
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
 Variety reports that the final casting of Solomon Kane is complete and that the movie will start shooting in Prague this month.
The new Saint, James Purefoy, will play the lead in this first part of a trilogy series adapted from the classic pulp stories by Robert E. Howard, creator of "Conan the Barbarian.
Between this potential three-movie series and the new Saint TV series, it looks like James Purefoy will be quite busy for the next few years!
More about Solomon Kane:
Solomon Kane (created by Robert E. Howard) is a 16th Century soldier who learns that his brutal and cruel actions have forever damned him. Determined to redeem himself, Kane swears to live a life of peace and goodness but is forced to fight once more when a dark power threatens the land. Kane is a somber-looking man who wanders the world with no apparent goal other than to vanquish evil in all its forms.
Robert E. Howard describes Kane as a somber and gloomy man of pale face and cold eyes, all of it shadowed by a slouch hat. He is dressed entirely in black and his weaponry consists of a rapier, a dagger, and a couple of flintlock pistols. During one of his latter adventures his friend N'Longa, a black African shaman, gave him a voodoo staff that served as a protection against evil, but could easily be wielded as an effective weapon. It is revealed in another story, "The Footfalls Within," that this is the mythical Staff of Solomon, a talisman older than the Earth and unimaginably powerful, much more so than even N'Longa knew. In the same adventure with N'Longa, Kane is seen using a musket as well.
His adventures, published mostly in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, often take him from Europe to the jungles of Africa and back.Labels: 2008, James Purefoy, Robert E. Howard, Solomon Kane
1 comments
for Solomon Kane vs. The Saint
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
 The response to the announcement of James Purefoy as the new Saint has been extremely positive with growing excitement -- there are many more happy Saint fans than when the Val Kilmer movie was shaping up. This choice has been really well done. Genius!
A few more details have trickled in. The Saint will be a German/Australian co-production. Exterior shots will be filmed in Berlin, Germany, with the interiors and post production will be done in Brisbane, Australia. Financing will be finalized this week, and there will certainly be even more details forthcoming in the near future.
More news about James Purefoy as The Saint can be found using Saint Search.Labels: 2007, James Purefoy, TV
4 comments
for James Purefoy As The Saint is Pure Genius
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
 Breaking news on the forthcoming coming TV series of The Saint, and you heard it here first!
James Purefoy, who played Mark Antony in "Rome" is set to play the new Simon Templar in the forthcoming TV series of The Saint.
Bill Macdonald tells www.saint.org (the official website of The Saint Club) that his team is prepping a two-hour pilot for a European shoot. The reason for shooting in Europe is the current strike situation in U.S. would otherwise hold up production. Shooting in Berlin and Australia begins in April.
Bill goes on to say that the show is being produced by himself (William J. MacDonald), Geoffrey Moore (Sir Roger Moore's son), and Jorge Zamacona (most recently of "Oz").
James Purefoy, who will play the new Saint, was screen tested for the role of James Bond in 1995 for Goldeneye, and throughout 2004 and 2005 Purefoy's name was rumoured as a possible candidate to replace Brosnan as agent 007 in future James Bond films. These rumors surfaced again before the 2006 film, Casino Royale.Labels: 2007, Geoffrey Moore, James Bond, James Purefoy, Jorge Zamacona, TV, William J. MacDonald
9 comments
for James Purefoy To Play Simon Templar in The Saint
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