''The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc'' is a 1996 television film starring Jonathan Jackson and

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

. It was produced for

Showtime Network Showtime is an American premium television network owned by Paramount Media Networks, and is the flagship property of the namesake parent company, Showtime Networks, a part of Paramount Media Networks. Showtime's programming primarily includes t ...

s under their family division, and first aired in September 1996. The film was written by Rodman Gregg and Richard Clark. Inspired by the classic 1937 MGM version of

Anthony Hope Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), was a British novelist and playwright. He was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels but he is remembered predominantly for only two books: ''Th ...

's 1894 novel '' The Prisoner of Zenda'' and starring

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...

, ''The Prisoner of Zenda, Inc.'' was a contemporary version loosely based on the original. Zenda was the castle in the mythical kingdom of

Ruritania Ruritania is a fictional country, originally located in central Europe as a setting for novels by Anthony Hope, such as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1894). Nowadays the term connotes a quaint minor European country, or is used as a placeholder name f ...

in previous versions, whereas Zenda Inc. is a computer business empire in this version. The film continued the theme of mistaken identities which was central to the plot. Jackson plays Oliver and his lookalike Rudy (who is named after Prince Rudolf from the original, and in this case is a ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' fan—a nod to co-star Shatner). The film also starred American character actor Don S. Davis from the popular television series ''Stargate SG-1''. It was released on VHS under the renamed title ''Double Play'', but reverted to the original title for the DVD release.

References

External links

* 1996 films 1996 television films 1990s adventure drama films Films based on The Prisoner of Zenda Films shot in British Columbia Showtime (TV network) films 1996 drama films American drama television films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-drama-film-stub