Next month Anchor Bay Entertainment will release the direct-to-DVD movie The Man From Earth, based on the final screenplay written by "Mirror, Mirror" scribe Jerome Bixby before his death.

The Man From Earth tells the story of retiring professor John Oldman, who reveals to his colleagues at his farewell party he is an immortal who has walked the earth for 14,000 years. Bixby conceived of the story in the early 1960s, and completed the film on his death bed in April 1998. The film was directed by Richard Schenkman.

The film features several Trek alumni aomng its cast. One of John Oldman's skeptical colleagues is played by former Star Trek: Enterprise star John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), withby by frequent Trek guest star Tony Todd (Kurn). Also making appearances are Richard Riehle and David Lee Smith. Riehle appeared in two episodes each of Enterprise and Voyager, as well as playing Batai on TNG's "The Inner Light;" while Smith guest-starred in Voyager's "The Darkling" as Zahir.

Bixby himself was an important contributor to the original Star Trek series. Besides "Mirror, Mirror," he wrote three more episodes of the show: "By Any Other Name," "Day Of The Dove," and "Requiem For Methuselah." After he died in 1998, the Deep Space Nine episode "The Emperor's New Cloak" was dedicated to his memory.

Star Trek fans already got a preview of The Man From Earth this April, when the film was screened at Creation's Grand Slam convention. The film was later screened at several other science fiction conventions, before making its theatrical debut two weeks ago in California. The DVD of the film will be released on the 13th of November, and will feature an audio commentary by Billingsley, as well as a documentary feature called "Star Trek: Jerome Bixby’s Sci-Fi Legacy."

More information about The Man From Earth can be found on the official Anchor Bay site. To order the DVD of the film, head over to Amazon.com.

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