Blade is headed to the small screen, sucka.

Spike TV has ordered a two-hour TV movie based on Wesley Snipes’ blockbuster vampire franchise that will serve as a launching pad for a full-blooded tube series.

The testosterone-fueled Viacom-owned, which has been struggling to come up with a flagship show, hopes a successful Blade telefilm will evolve into a sort of macho version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, appealing both to fanboys and a wider audience.

"The action-adventure genre is largely ignored in today’s television landscape, and we know it is something that our male viewers really want," Doug Herzog, president of Spike TV, said in a statement. "Blade is a great movie franchise with an established brand that men already recognize and identify with."

David Goyer, who wrote the screenplays for all three Blade films—1998’s Blade, 2002’s Blade II and 2004’s Blade: Trinity (which he also directed)—will serve as executive producer on the project.

But don’t expect to see Snipes staking out a role.

The thespian who portrayed the titular half-man, half-vampire bad-ass hero, is suing New Line Cinema and Goyer for $5 million, accusing them of breach of contract.

Snipes’ suit contends that not only was he not given final approval over the script and director of Blade: Trinity as promised in his contract, but that the studio still owes him $3.6 million of the $13 million the actor was supposed to get up front for fighting the bloodsuckers one more time.

The first Blade film was an unqualified success, with $70 million in domestic ticket sales and a hit DVD. Blade II fared even better, raking in $81 million. However, the series stumbled earlier this year with the final installment. Budgeted at $65 million, Blade: Trinity took in a disappointing $52 million.

The Blade TV movie will premiere on Spike TV in early 2006.