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Witchblade: Directed by Ralph Hemecker. With Yancy Butler, Anthony Cistaro, Conrad Dunn, David Chokachi. Witchblade is the story of New York detective, Sara Pezzini, whose search for justice leads her to an arcane weapon that grants her the power to battle Earth's darkest evil forces.
- (2.4K)
- Action, Crime, Drama
- Ralph Hemecker
- 2000-08-27
When one of her best friends is murdered, NYPD homicide detective Sara Pezzini ( Yancy Butler) is bitter at being unable to bring her killer to justice. Sara is certain the killer is Tommy Gallo ( Conrad Dunn ), a legendary hit man who seems untouchable.
- Supernatural Fantasy Action Superhero
Witchblade: Created by Ralph Hemecker, Marc Silvestri, Michael Turner. With Yancy Butler, David Chokachi, Anthony Cistaro, Will Yun Lee. NYPD Det. Sara Pezzini has a supernatural weapon and abilities to help her fight evil.
- (2.9K)
- 2001-06-12
- Action, Drama, Fantasy
- 60
- Overview
- Plot
- Cast
- Production
Witchblade is a made-for-television live-action superhero film adapted from the Witchblade comics series. The Turner Network Television film made its debut August 27, 2000. The strong ratings performance of the two-hour action-thriller led to the TNT original series, Witchblade (2001–2002).
When one of her best friends is murdered, NYPD homicide detective Sara Pezzini (Yancy Butler) is bitter at being unable to bring her killer to justice. Sara is certain the killer is Tommy Gallo (Conrad Dunn), a legendary hit man who seems untouchable.
After one of Gallo's henchmen assaults her partner, Danny Woo (Will Yun Lee), Sara pursues him into a museum where the artifacts of Joan of Arc are among those displayed. While searching for Gallo's man, Sara is momentarily transfixed by a metal gauntlet in a display case – and is startled by a mysterious figure (Eric Etebari) who vanishes as quickly as he appears. During a savage gunfight in the museum, the display case is shattered and the gauntlet careens through space and finds Sara's arm, miraculously protecting her. In time it appears that all of these events have converged through the machinations of a billionaire named Kenneth Irons (Anthony Cistaro), a man obsessed with an artifact called the Witchblade.
•Yancy Butler as Sara Pezzini, homicide detective and reluctant bladewielder
•Anthony Cistaro as Kenneth Irons, billionaire obsessed with controlling the bearer of the Witchblade
•Conrad Dunn as Tommy Gallo, most powerful man in the underworld
•David Chokachi as Jake McCartey, rookie NYPD police detective and former champion surfer
•Kenneth Welsh as Joe Siri, Sara's supervisor, also her late father's partner and best friend
•Will Yun Lee as Danny Woo, Sara's partner and guardian angel
In April 1998, Turner Network Television announced plans for the two-hour live-action feature film, Witchblade, to premiere in early 1999 as part of the cable network's significant increase in original programming. The film was to be the pilot for an hour-long TNT series that would be filmmaker Oliver Stone's first drama series for television. Executive producer Stone had taken Top Cow's project to Warner Bros. Television, which agreed to finance development and took Witchblade to TNT, a sister company in the Time-Warner family. In October 1999, the pilot film was still in development with Stone's company, Illusion Entertainment; but when filming began in February 2000, Stone was no longer attached to the Witchblade project. Instead, Witchblade was executive produced by Dan Halsted, Stone's former partner, and Top Cow Productions' Marc Silvestri.
"As with all things Hollywood it was several train wrecks that somehow made it to the station", said executive producer Marc Silvestri. "Honestly, it amazes me how anything gets produced at all." Silvestri attributed Stone's departure to a creative dispute with TNT.
The teleplay by J. D. Zeik is a loose adaptation of the Top Cow comic book. "We use the comic book to get the essential DNA of the story", director Ralph Hemecker said. "We've maintained a lot of the elements of the original eight issues of the comic book ... making it more of a character-driven piece."
Witchblade was filmed in Toronto in February and March 2000. As well as original music by Joel Goldsmith, the soundtrack includes songs by U2 ("Mysterious Ways"), Beth Orton ("She Cries Your Name"), Rob Zombie ("Living Dead Girl") and The Guess Who ("American Woman"). The telefilm premiered on TNT Sunday, August 27, 2000.
Sara Pezzini is a tough, intelligent New York homicide detective who attacks her job with a vengeance in an all-or-nothing quest to bring down the bad guys, almost going too far.
- Ralph Hemecker
- Yancy Butler
Witchblade is an American television series that aired on TNT from 2001 to 2002. The series is based on the Witchblade comic book series, and followed a pilot film that debuted in August 2000. Some of the episodes were written by Ralph Hemecker, Marc Silvestri (who also wrote the comic book) and J.D. Zeik. Yancy Butler starred as Sara Pezzini ...
November 11, 2000. Sara 'Pez' Pezzini is a New York Homicide Detective for the 11th Precinct. Her childhood best friend, Maria Buzanis, is murdered, and she is certain that Tommy Gallo, one of the city's most dangerous criminals, is the killer.