'Battlefield' moving to the small screen

New York Post, The Starr Report/November 6, 2000
By Michael Starr

L. Ron Hubbard's "Battlefield Earth" sci-fi novel, already a movie starring John Travolta, will be turned into a syndicated animated series produced by Japan-based Pine Com International.

Pine Com has inked a deal with Author Services, Inc. - which represents all of the Hubbard literary and theatrical rights - to produce 20 one-hour animated segments budgeted at $4 million and based on "Battlefield Earth," which has sold over 6 million copies since 1982.

The deal was brokered by Javier Ruiz, Senior VP of Author Services. Ruiz says the deal also includes rights to interactive computer games and a comic book series based on "Battlefield Earth," which was named "Science Fiction Book of the Century" by the American Book Readers Association.

Pine Com plans to begin syndicating the episodes in spring 2002.

Hubbard is the founder of Scientology, a movement of which Travolta is a devoted member. The "Battlefield Earth" movie tanked earlier this year, although Travolta has said he would like to do a sequel.