Noah Wyle returns for third chapter of movie series

The most mild-mannered action hero in TV history will be back on TNT late this year.

The cable network has begun production on the third installment of its "Librarian" franchise, with former "ER" star Noah Wyle reprising his title role. The movie, titled "The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice," is scheduled to premiere in late 2008.

Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin will reprise their roles as well, and Bruce Davison ("Knight Rider," "X-Men") and Stana Katic ("Heroes") will join the cast for the new film. Jonathan Frakes ("Star Trek: The Next Generation"), who helmed the second "Librarian" film, is also returning as director.

"Curse of the Judas Chalice" will once again center on Wyle's Flynn Carsen, a librarian at the New York Metropolitan Library who also keeps guard over the world's greatest treasures (both real and mythical). After a series of dreams leads him to New Orleans (where the film began production this week), he gets tangled up in a conspiracy involving both the chalice and the legendary vampire Count Vlad Dracula.

Katic plays a jazz singer whom Dracula turned into a vampire some 400 years ago and who has dedicated herself to hunting him down. Davison will play a professor who holds key information about the chalice.

Both previous "Librarian" films have scored strong ratings for TNT. The first film, in 2004, drew better than 7 million viewers, and the 2006 sequel pulled in 6.2 million viewers.