MUMBAI: Star Movies has announced that it has bagged the rights for a mini series from Jurassic Park maker Steven Spielberg.
 
 
The 10-episode mini series in question is Steven Spielberg Presents Taken from DreamWorks. The US$40 million alien abduction saga will exclusively premiere in Asia on Star Movies in July. Taken weaves together the stories of three families over multiple generations and their crucial role in the history of alien abductions. Spielberg served as executive producer and like Band of Brothers, each episode has a different director.

The tale deals with how alien abductions have affected American life since the 1950s. In 1950s America, Russell Keys is haunted by his abductions during the war. Captain Owen Crawford becomes a driven man when he gets involved in the government cover-up of Roswell. Housewife Sally Clarke falls in love and has a child with a man who is an alien, who survived the crash. As the years go by we follow the lives of these three families as they continue to be affected by the aliens, culminating with the birth of Allie Keys who is the end product of decades of alien meddling and has powers beyond either species but is a valuable prize to both the aliens and the government, who seek to understand them.

Spielberg of course is no stranger to the subject matter regarding mankind’s fascination with aliens. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he explored this theme successfully with ET and Close Encounters of The Third Kind. .VP Programming, Star Simi Seth says, “We are very excited to be able to present this compelling sci fi drama exclusively to our Star Movies viewers in Asia. Taken has all the ingredients for a huge success story, acting, directing, camerawork, music and special effects. It is a must see event for this summer.”

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Taken was nominated for best mini series at this year’s Golden Globe Awards and was the best ever rated show on the Sci Fi Channel in the US. It also won the Golden Satellite Award for mini series. Spielberg has gone on record saying that he believes that Taken is a character story in which compelling characters evolve, age, give birth to special children who themselves have a purpose in the story. All of these keep viewers tuned in. However Taken is not straight forward science fiction like the X Files. It is much more interested in the human condition.