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A new animated series based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic sci-fi novel series “John Carter of Mars” will be developed by the author’s estate and showrunner Michael Kogge, with the first sneak peek at the planned series to be revealed this Friday at a Burroughs-themed panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

The series traces its roots back to 1912 with the pulp serial “Under the Moons of Mars” published by the magazine The All-Story and later as a novel titled “A Princess of Mars.” The series followed Civil War veteran John Carter as he is transported to Mars — called Barsoom by its inhabitants — and becomes a warrior who wages battles against beasts and aliens.

The novels and the pulp comics adapted from them became part of the foundation for modern-day sci-fi. Alongside the likes of “Flash Gordon,” “John Carter” became an inspiration for George Lucas on “Star Wars” and James Cameron on “Avatar,...

Actor Ron Ely, who made history as the first person to play the Tarzan character in a television series, has passed away. He was 86 years old. His death comes five years after a tragedy that took the lives of his wife and son.

On Instagram, a post shared by Ely's daughter, Kirsten, announced that the actor had died. His death comes five years after a tragedy that took the lives of his wife and son, and after opening up on the painful loss of her father, Kirsten noted how it brought her a small sense of comfort that the three are now reunited.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by K I K I E L Y (@blonderambitions)

"The world has lost one of the greatest men it has ever known - and I have lost my dad," her post reads in part. "My father was someone that people called a hero.

Ron Ely, best known for his starring role as Tarzan in the 1960s NBC television series Tarzan, has died, his daughter Kirsten confirmed to TMZ, telling the outlet her father passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family on September 29. He was 86.

His daughter shared an emotional tribute to her father on Instagram.

“The world has lost one of the greatest men it has ever known – and I have lost my dad,” Kirsten wrote.

“My father was someone that people called a hero. He was an actor, writer, coach, mentor, family man and leader. He created a powerful wave of positive influence wherever he went. The impact he had on others is something that I have never witnessed in any other person – there was something truly magical about him. This is how the world knew him.

“I knew him as my dad – and what a heaven sent honor that has been.

CANNES -- Tim Roth and Neve Campbell have joined German star Sebastian Koch (The Lives of Others) in the cast of Sea-Wolf, the $20 million adventure two-parter from Herbert Kloiber's Tele-Munchen Group for RHI Entertainment and German public broadcaster ZDF.

Koch will star as the crazed seaman Wolf Larson in the new adaptation of the Jack London classic. Roth will play his brother and rival Death Larsen while Campbell will star as Maude, a runaway bride who lands on Wolf's ship.

Mike Barker (A Good Woman) will direct the mini for Tele-Munchen's production division Clasart Television from a script by Nigel Williams (Elizabeth I).

Shooting is set to start in Halifax, Canada at the end April for delivery this fall. ZDF will air the series in Germany with RHI handling U.S. rights.

Tele-Munchen is using Sea-Wolf as the flagship to launch its new international sales outfit, which is being run by ex-Telepool sales exec Carlos Hertel. TMG holds all worldwide rights to Sea-Wolf outside of Germany and the U.S.

COLOGNE, Germany -- Sebastian Koch, the German star of "The Lives of Others" and "Blackbook", has signed on as the lead in the $17 million TV miniseries "The Seawolf".

Koch will play psychotic schooner captain Wolf Larson in the remake of the Jack London adventure classic, which Germany's Tele Munchen Group, U.K. production company Power and German public broadcaster ZDF are co-producing.

Mike Barker ("A Good Woman", "Best Laid Plans") will direct the mini, which is set to begin shooting in April 2008.

"The Seawolf" tells the story of a gentlemen scholar who is rescued by Wolf's crew after a ferryboat accident in San Francisco Bay. What follows is a struggle to survive both against Wolf and his lackeys and against the forces of nature.

TMG's 1971 adaptation of "The Seawolf", starring Raimund Harmstorf as Wolf Larson, helped put the Munich-based company on the map

U.K. screenwriter Nigel Williams will pen the script for the new version. Delivery of the two-parter is set for October, with Power handling international sales.