'Spider-Man' director producing syndicated show

Director Sam Raimi is getting back into the TV business with an adaptation of author Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" books.

Raimi is teaming with ABC Studios to produce a weekly syndicated series called "Wizard's First Rule," which takes its title from the first book in Goodkind's series. It will follow the story of a man who begins to realize extraordinary magical abilities and teams with a woman to stop his homeland from falling to the forces of evil.

The show has already been picked up by Tribune Broadcasting to air on its stations, which reach about 35 percent of the country's TV viewers. (The Tribune Co. is also owns Zap2it.)

"We are enormously pleased to be bringing a network-quality product back to the syndication marketplace that will reinvigorate the weekly scripted, one-hour genre," says Janice Marinelli, president of Disney-ABC Domestic Television, which is distributing the series. "Tribune's stations are the ideal home for this series, and we couldn't have asked for a better launch partner

"Wizard's First Rule" marks a return to television for Raimi. He was an executive producer of "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess," which both enjoyed long runs in syndication in the 1990s.

Production on the 22-episode first season of "Wizard's First Rule" is scheduled to begin in May. Raimi, Tapert, Donen and Ned Nalle will serve as executive producers. There's no word yet on casting, writers or directors.