Zane Grey's Western classic RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE comes to Turner Network Television (TNT) in a new film adaptation starring Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. Harris and his wife Madigan also serve as executive producers on the film, having personally developed the project for over ten years. Charles Haid directs the two-hour drama, which is produced by Rosemont Productions International, LTD. in association with Harris's Zeke Productions and Madigan's Amer Productions. The screenplay was written by Gill Dennis.
The prolific and popular Grey's best-known novel, RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE is a timeless parable of individual freedom in which a woman struggling to hold on to her ranch must turn for help to a mysterious drifter when the people she has trusted betray her. The last film adaptation of Grey's dark tale of revenge and frontier justice was the 1941 classic starring George Montgomery and Mary Howard.
Among Harris's many film performances are turns opposite his wife, Madigan, in Places in the Heart and Alamo Bay. He starred in The Right Stuff, Sweet Dreams, The Abyss, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Firm and Just Cause. Harris most recently starred in Ron Howard's Apollo 13, with Tom Hanks and will be seen in Oliver Stone's Nixon. Madigan starred in such films as Twice in a Lifetime, Field of Dreams and last year's And Then There Was One, the Lifetime Television movie that earned her a CableACE as Best Actress.
The popular star of Steven Bochco's acclaimed series Hill Street Blues, television's "Renko" is as well known today for his work behind the camera as for the role that earned him two Emmy nominations. His directing credits include the feature Iron Will; TNT's Cooperstown, winner of the coveted Humanitas Prize; and Bochco's upcoming Murder One.
Rosemont Productions' multiple-award-winning film adaptations of classic literary adventures include Man Without a Country, The Red Badge of Courage, Les Miserables, All Quiet on the Western Front, A Tale of Two Cities, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask. Among their 10 Hallmark Hall of Fame presentations are the Emmy-winning The Secret Garden, The Tenth Man and Long Road Home. For TNT, the Rosemonts produced the Civil War drama Ironclads.
