The SCI FI Channel has found lead actors for “Riverworld” and “The Phantom,” its upcoming four-hour movie events that will serve as trials for possible new series, says The Hollywood Reporter.
“Battlestar Galactica” veteran Tahmoh Penikett and “Smallville” supergirl Laura Vandervoort will star in “Riverworld,” and Ryan Carnes (“Desperate Housewives”) has been cast as the Phantom.
Penikett will play war correspondent Matt Ellman, who is killed along with his fiancee (Vandervoort) but awakens in a mysterious world populated by everyone who has lived on Earth.
Alan Cumming is set to guest star as the Caretaker; Jeananne Goossen and Mark Deklin also have been cast.
In “Phantom,” Carnes will play the well-known comic book hero, and Isabella Rossellini will guest star as the villainous Lithia, who is overseeing a mind-control experiment. Additional “Phantom” cast members include Cameron Goodman and Sandrine Holt.
