VAL KILMER, STEVE ZAHN AND RACHEL GRIFFITHS TO STAR IN "COMANCHE MOON," A NEW SIX-HOUR MINI-SERIES, BASED ON THE BOOK BY LARRY McMURTRY, THAT IS THE PREQUEL TO "LONESOME DOVE," HAS STARTED PRODUCTION FOR BROADCAST ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

Karl Urban, Graham Greene, Linda Cardellini, Elizabeth Banks and Wes Studi Also Star

From Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-Winning Writers of the Feature Film "Brokeback Mountain" Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana

Val Kilmer ("Kiss Kiss Bang Bang"), Steve Zahn ("Riding in Cars With Boys"), Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Rachel Griffiths ("Hilary and Jackie," "Six Feet Under"), Karl Urban ("The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"), Academy Award nominee Graham Greene ("Dances with Wolves"), Linda Cardellini ("E.R.") and Elizabeth Banks ("The 40 Year Old Virgin") will star in COMANCHE MOON, a new six-hour mini-series based on the book by Larry McMurtry, the prequel to the multiple Emmy Award-winning mini-series "Lonesome Dove," has started production in Santa Fe, NM for broadcast on the CBS Television Network. Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winners Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, the writers and executive producer and producer, respectively, of the feature film "Brokeback Mountain," will serve as executive producers and writers.

COMANCHE MOON follows Texas Rangers Augustus McCrae (Zahn) and Woodrow F. Call (Urban), now in their middle years, as they continue to deal with the ever-increasing tensions of adult life -- Gus with his great love, Clara Forsythe (Cardellini), and Call with Maggie Tilton (Banks), the young prostitute who loves him. Kilmer plays Captain Inish Scull, a Yankee aristocrat and hero of the recently concluded Mexican War. Griffiths plays Inez Scull, the Captain�s sexy wife who doesn�t hesitate to fill her time with other men when he�s away from home. Wes Studi plays Idahi, a Comanche ally of Buffalo Humps.

Two proud but very different men, McCrae and Call enlist with a Ranger troop in pursuit of three outlaws: Buffalo Hump (Greene), the great Comanche war chief; Kicking Wolf (Jonathon Joss), the celebrated Comanche horse thief; and a deadly Mexican bandit king with a penchant for torture. Assisting the Rangers in their wild chase is the renowned Kickapoo tracker, Famous Shoes (David Midthunder). They are joined by their comrades-in-arms, Deets (Keith Robinson), Jake Spoon (Ryan Merriman) and Pea Eye Parker, in the bitter struggle to protect an advancing western frontier against the defiant Comanches who are determined to defend their territory and their way of life. The Rangers also encounter Buffalo Hump�s violent outcast son, Blue Duck (Adam Beach).

Larry McMurtry was nominated for an Academy Award for his 1971 screenplay for "The Last Picture Show." The feature films "Hud," which won three Academy Awards, and "Terms of Endearment," which won five Academy Awards, were both adapted from his novels. He won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for "Lonesome Dove." With Diana Ossana, he recently won the Academy Award (Adapted Screenplay) and Golden Globe Award (Best Screen Play Motion Picture) for "Brokeback Mountain."

Director Simon Wincer and producer Dyson Lovell, who directed and produced "Lonesome Dove" respectively, will serve in those roles on COMANCHE MOON.

"Lonesome Dove," which was broadcast on CBS Feb. 5-8, 1989, remains the highest-rated mini-series since the advent of people meters, averaging a 26.2/39.

COMANCHE MOON is a co-production of CBS Paramount Network Television and Sony Pictures Television. Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana ("Brokeback Mountain") and Paul Frank, Julie Yorn and Adam Shulman of Firm Films ("The Exorcism of Emily Rose," "Criss Angel: Mindfreak") are the executive producers. Dyson Lovell and Larry Rappaport ("The Christmas Blessing") are the producers. Simon Wincer is directing from a script by McMurtry and Ossana.