Terra Nova is an American science fiction drama television series that is scheduled to air on Fox on Monday nights. It is expected to begin on September 26, 2011, starting with a two hour premiere.
Plot
The show begins in the year 2149, a time when all life on planet Earth is threatened with extinction (suggested in trailers to be due to dwindling worldwide air quality). In an effort to save the human race, scientists develop a portal allowing travel 85 million years back in time to prehistoric Earth. The Shannon family (father Jim, his wife Elisabeth, and their three children Josh, Maddy and Zoe) join the tenth pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova, the first human colony on the other side of the temporal doorway. However, they are unaware that the colony is in the middle of a group of carnivorous dinosaurs.
Production
Alex Graves has signed on to direct the pilot. Brannon Braga will serve as showrunner. Filming began in November 2010 in south-east Queensland, Australia, with locations in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Gold Coast Hinterland. The series will have a budget of approximately $4 million an episode. Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly stated, "This thing is going to be huge. It's going to take an enormous production commitment."
In an unusual decision, Fox skipped ordering just a pilot, and instead immediately ordered thirteen episodes. This was partly due to financial reasons, as the large Australian sets are expensive to dismantle and rebuild. Despite this decision, the producers deny the production is over-budget, with Peter Rice explaining instead the show is "a very expensive... very ambitious television show". Kevin Reilly continued, "We're not in completely unchartered territory here. The start-up cost for the series is definitely on the high end. But it's not some bank-breaking series".
In June 2010, the first cast member was announced – Jason O'Mara as Jim Shannon. In late August, Allison Miller joined the cast. In September, Deadline Hollywood reported that Stephen Lang signed on to play the role of Commander Frank Taylor. An executive producer, David Fury, left the series as a result of creative differences. In September, Shelley Conn landed the female lead role. In October, Mido Hamada was cast as a security head, while Landon Liboiron, Naomi Scott, and Alana Mansour were cast as the three children. In November, Christine Adams was cast as Mira. In May 2011, Rod Hallett was added as a series regular.
The two-hour premiere episode required more than 250 sets, costing $16 million, with some of the sets to be reused over the course of the season. The cast and crew returned to Queensland, Australia on May 20, 2011 to continue production on the first season. Filming commenced on May 25, 2011.
On July 8, 2011, it was announced that the first season will consist of thirteen episodes to finish airing in December 2011.
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