09:00am ET, 03-March-04

Atlantis Casting Announced

SCI FI Channel announced today that casting has been completed on the network’s highly anticipated original series, Stargate Atlantis. Joe Flanigan (Profiler, Tru Calling) leads the cast and will be joined by Torri Higginson (TekWar), Rainbow Sun Francks, David Hewlett (Stargate SG-1) and Rachel Luttrell (Impostor).

Set to debut in July with a two-hour premiere, Atlantis follows the adventures of the Stargate Atlantis team, which is formed after a secret base, abandoned by the original builders of the Stargates, is found buried in the ice of Antarctica. Their discovery leads to a daring expedition to the distant Pegasus galaxy, where they encounter a primitive human civilization and a sinister new enemy that threatens human life everywhere.

Flanigan will play Maj. John Sheppard, a courageous and gifted pilot, while Higginson will portray Dr. Elizabeth Weir, head of the mission and a diplomatic relations specialist. Rounding out the cast are Francks as Lt. Aiden Ford, an enthusiastic young officer who becomes Sheppard’s second-in-command, Hewlett, reprising his Stargate SG-1 recurring role as astrophysicist Dr. Rodney McKay, and Luttrell as Teyla, a beautiful young leader among the primitive alien civilization that the Atlantis team encounters. In a special guest starring role, sci-fi favorite Robert Patrick (Terminator 2, The X-Files) will appear as Col. Marshall Sumner in the two-hour Atlantis premiere event. Following its premiere, 18 additional original episodes of Atlantis will air during the show’s regular Friday night 10 p.m. ET/PT slot, as a companion series to the all-new eighth season of Stargate SG-1.