The Monkey King (2001 NBC Miniseries)
A two-part miniseries produced by NBC and the Sci-Fi Channel in 2001, also known as The Lost Empire.
The Monkey King (also known as The Lost Empire) is a television miniseries produced in 2001 by NBC, Hallmark Entertainment, and the Sci-Fi Channel. It aired in two episodes from March 11 to 12, 2001, with a total runtime of approximately 153 minutes. The series was directed by Peter MacDonald and written by Chinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang. The show represents a bold adaptation of Journey to the West for American television: the lead, Thomas Gibson, plays Nicholas Orton, a modern American scholar who encounters Guanyin (played by Bai Ling) in China and is told he is the only key to preventing history from regressing five hundred years. He is drawn into the ancient Chinese mythological Netherworld, where he releases the imprisoned Sun Wukong (played by Russell Wong) and joins forces with Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing to protect the original manuscript of Journey to the West from destruction. The score was composed by John Altman, and the cinematography was handled by David Connell. Despite a massive investment in special effects, the series was poorly received; USA Today called it "stupid and chaotic," while Variety described it as "tedious and dull." Its viewership hit a record low for NBC miniseries, and it is regarded as a failed attempt at a Westernized adaptation of Journey to the West.