THE MERCURY MEN ARE GOING TO SYFY
Friday, January 21, 2011 at 11:46AM 
We're (FINALLY) proud to announce that The Mercury Men will be coming to Syfy.com! You'll soon be able to watch the entire series for FREE at http://www.syfy.com/mercurymen. They're also going to be running short promotional spots for the series on the Syfy Channel which is cool beyond words.
I cannot tell you how incredibly excited we are to be able to share the great news and be another step closer to releasing this really fun story. From day one, Syfy is the place we ultimately wanted Mercury Men to land. Syfy is the home for sci-fi fans and, after meeting their team, it's run BY sci-fi fans. Couldn't think of a better home for The Mercury Men.
While we haven't announced the airdate yet, it won't be much longer. In the meantime, if you're a fan of the series, please share a link on your Facebook or Twitter page to help spread the word about the fun new Syfy series! And for those of you who have been following The Mercury Men for a WHILE, thanks SO much for being a part of the journey. We're thrilled to finally be able to share this fun story with you.
Here's the official press release:
RIESE: KINGDOM FALLING DELIVERS MORE THAN ONE MILLION STREAMS IN JUST TWO MONTHS
NEW YORK - January 21, 2011 - Following the enormous success of the series Riese: Kingdom Falling - which generated 1.2 million streams in only two months - Syfy.com will expand its original digital content slate with the 10-part The Mercury Men, it was announced today by Craig Engler, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Syfy Digital.
Created by acclaimed director Christopher Preksta (Captain Blasto), The Mercury Men (each episode runs approximately seven minutes) will premiere exclusively in early 2011.
Said Engler: "Mercury Men is a phenomenal project and I think sci-fi fans and Syfy viewers are going to absolutely love it. We've been following the series since Chris (Preksta) posted the first trailer online, and we're thrilled to be able to work with him and host Mercury Men's worldwide debut on Syfy.com."
Drawing on the same retro serials that inspired films such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones, The Mercury Men is set in Pittsburgh in 1975. Edward Borman (Mark Tierno/Day of the Dead), a lowly government office drone, finds himself trapped when the deadly Men of Mercury seize the building as a staging ground for their nefarious plot.
Aided by Jack Yaeger (Curt Wootton/Captain Blasto), a daring aerospace engineer from a mysterious organization known as "The League," and Grace (Amy Staggs/Friday Night Lights, Death Proof), who was only at the building to get a government form stamped, Edward must stop the invaders and their Doomsday Device, the Gravity Engine.
The Mercury Men is written and directed by Christopher Preksta, best known as the writer/director of Captain Blasto, for which he was nominated for two Streamy Awards. His work has been showcased at prestigious events including the Tribeca Film Festival and Comic-Con. Producer is Kati Lightholder.
Riese: Kingdom Falling, narrated by Sanctuary star Amanda Tapping, premiered on Syfy.com on October 26.
Reader Comments (11)
Fantastic news! Congratulations Chris... I know it's been a long ride. Can't wait to see the show finally!
Thanks Steve!
I have really been waiting for this series and I hope Syfy is going to show it internationally.
Congratulations! This is great news. Looking forward to seeing the show.
Congratulations! I'm so happy this fantastic looking webseries will get a professional launch platform, especially TV promos, how exciting. I can't wait to see it. I hope it works out for you guys.
Congratulations! Fantastic! I can't wait!
While its great you got this, thats the whole international community screwed then :(
Its effectively the same as Riese, region locking preventing anyone from outside the US accessing it.
Ditto for Sanctuary. (although at least you didn't charge your fans first...).
I am just baffled by the rational of it all. How does region locking a free webshow help them in any way? :?
These webshows go from "anyone can watch them" to "just the US" as soon as they get any sort of tv network backing.
I hope at some point at least Mercury man makes it to a region free (region 0) DVD, like Dr Horrible did.
Thomas, Syfy only licenses content for the US. They don't region lock to help themselves, they region lock because that allows the production company that owns the content, Mercury Men Pictures, to license it to other territories. We are actively working on licensing Mercury Men globally, so you WILL be able to watch the series, although it may not be the same release date as Syfy. Trust me, we want as many people as possible to see the series because WE think it's a lot of fun :)
ah, thats ok then! Thanks for clearing that up.
I was under the impression once the rights went to syfy, they get everything and you wouldn't be allowed to look elsewhere for distribution deals.
If your still in controll in other regions that seems more fair, and (of course) I wish you every luck finding something suitable! :)
Any updates as to when it will be available outside of the US?
No updates yet, but we're working on it every day. It's very important to us.