Prisoner of Zenda, Inc.
The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc is a 1996 television film starring Jonathan Jackson and William Shatner. It was produced for Showtime Networks under their family division, and first aired September 1996. The film was written by Rodman Gregg and Richard Clark.
| Prisoner of Zenda, Inc. | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Adventure Drama |
| Written by | Richard Clark (original screenplay) Rodman Gregg (original screenplay) |
| Directed by | Stefan Scaini |
| Starring | Jonathan Jackson Jay Brazeau Richard Lee Jackson Don S. Davis William Shatner Katharine Isabelle |
| Theme music composer | John Welsman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Larry Sugar Laurie McLarty (line producer) |
| Cinematography | Maris H. Jansons |
| Editor(s) | Bill Goddard |
| Running time | 101 min. |
| Production company(s) | Hallmark Entertainment Showtime Networks |
| Distributor | Evergreen Entertainment Vidatron Entertainment Group |
| Release | |
| Original release | September 1996 |
Inspired by the classic 1937 MGM version of Anthony Hope's 1894 novel The Prisoner of Zenda and starring Ronald Colman, The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc. was a contemporary version loosely based on the original. Zenda was the castle in the mythical kingdom of Ruritania in previous versions, whereas Zenda Inc. is a computer business empire in this version.
The film continued the theme of mistaken identities which was central to the plot. Jackson plays Oliver and his lookalike Rudy (who is named after Prince Rudolf from the original, and in this case is a Star Trek fan—a nod to co-star Shatner). The film also starred American character actor Don S. Davis from the popular television series Stargate SG-1.
It was released on VHS under the renamed title Double Play, but reverted to the original title for the DVD release.