Mark-Paul Gosselaar Announced As Lead For Fox’s Dual-Timeline Vampire Series, The Passage

Fox is making sure that at least some actors impacted by recent series cancellations won’t be on the unemployment rolls for too long. The upcoming supernatural drama, The Passage, has tapped six of it’s cast, including show lead Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Pitch, Saved by the Bell, Truth Be Told). Also announced castings are  Saniyya Sidney (American Horror Story), Genesis Rodriguez (Time After Time), Brianne Howey (The Exorcist), BJ Britt (Behind Enemy Lines) and Jennifer Ferrin (Time After Time).

Based on author Justin Cronin’s fantasy series made up of The Passage, The Twelve, and The City of Mirrors, Marcos Siega will be directing and Liz Heldens has penned the adaptation.

The story will be told along two parallel timelines, the present, and through flashbacks following 10-year old Amy Bellafonte (Sidney) and her experiences with the rise of terrifying monsters called virals which had started off as humans. Fox describes the series as:

An epic, character-driven thriller that morphs into a post-apocalyptic odyssey

So after a fashion it sounds like another go at a Walking Dead-style storyline, and it comes as no surprise that it will be shooting its pilot in Atlanta (home of TWD’s production).