He may have stood up to the Na’vi in Avatar, but if Steven Spielberg gets his way, Colonel Quaritch, better known as Stephen Lang, could be facing down dinosaurs in Earth’s distant past. Why? The actor has just been offered one of the lead roles on the new Spielberg-produced sci-fi show Terra Nova.
Starting in 2149, where the Earth is ruined thanks to humanity’s mistreatment of the environment, the series finds a family called the Shannons catapulted back 85 million years to prehistoric times. There, they join a group who are aiming to build a new civilization around the titular colony. Because as we all know, going back in time and changing the past *never *has bad consequences.
Lang, assuming he even takes the role, would be playing Frank Taylor, who sounds every bit the hard ass that Quaritch was, though he’ll be slightly more charming as the leader of the settlement. The series already has Jason Mara confirmed as Jim Shannon, a former cop who is asked to join the security team, and Allison Miller.
Given that this is a Spielberg production, it's carrying a hefty budget and plans to shoot in Australia, at least for the pilot. The plan for the show is for it to launch with the splashy first episode (directed by West Wing/Journeyman veteran Alex Graves) next May on US network Fox, before it settles into the autumn schedules for the rest of the series.
But despite the pedigree of its creative team, which also includes Brannon Braga, Terra Nova’s path to the screen has not been an easy one. Instead, it has been beset by delays (one of which, ironically, has led to Lang actually being available to appear) and problems, including the loss of Braga’s fellow show-runner, former Buffy/24/Lost man David Fury, over “creative differences” with the show’s pilot script. Presumably Fury wanted it to be good telly and Braga preferred to make it more like Star Trek: Enterprise. And FlashForward. And Star Trek: Voyager. And... Sorry – working out some personal issues, there.