William Shatner's upcoming film for the Sci Fi Channel was described by one of its scriptwriters, Star Trek: Enterprise writer-producer Judith Reeves-Stevens, as a story where "alien creatures [come] from the sun and it's not good when they reach us."

The Kirk actor, who will direct the film for Sci-Fi, had discussed the project with his daughter Liz Shatner at TheFandom.com (story), calling the movie Alien Fire and explaining that Liz's fiance had helped create graphics for the pitch session. Now a Sci Fi press release published by The Futon Critic dubs the film Fire Alien and identifies it one of several upcoming movies for 2006 that "will supercharge Saturdays" with 28 original action movies for the channel.

"Viewers can't get enough of these cost-effective, high-octane movies that have been averaging over 2 million viewers every Saturday night," notes the statement. "SCI FI's Saturday movie franchise is the Channel's homage to the drive-in, a re-imagination of cinema's earliest sci-fi treats."

The network promised that Shatner would bring "his own brand of tongue-in-cheek charm to the fire-breathing alien flick."

Another Futon Critic press release notes that Sci Fi intends for its new slate of films in development to expand the appeal of the genre "by incorporating the broad, mainstream appeal of fantasy, adventure and alternative reality", which will also include a new series based on the life of famed author Shirley Jackson to be produced by Michael Douglas.

As for Alien Fire, or Fire Alien, "We're actually in the process of revising the script right now," Garfield Reeves-Stevens told The IESB.

Judith Reeves-Stevens joked to the IESB that after ten years of collaborating with Shatner, she and husband Gar attribute their success to the fact that "We're Canadian as well as Bill is, so we had to exchange the secret Canadian handshake when we met."

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