History Commissions 'Texas Rising' Mini-Series

History has ordered an eight-hour miniseries, Texas Rising, the network announced Wednesday.

The star-studded series, which will debut in 2015, will feature Bill Paxton (Hatfieds & McCoys), Brendan Fraser (the Mummy), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen), Olivier Martinez (Unfaithful), Michael Rapaport (Justified) and Max Thieriot (Bates Motel), said network officials. Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields) will direct the mini-series, which will detail the Texas Revolution against Mexico and the rise of the legendary Texas Rangers.

 “From Hatfields & McCoys to The Bible to Vikings, History has made a major commitment to high-quality scripted historical dramas,” said Dirk Hoogstra, executive vice president and general manager, HISTORY & H2. “The Texas Revolution is one of the most gut-wrenching and inspirational events in our history. Doing the story justice will be a massive undertaking and we’re excited to begin production with one of the best teams in the business.”

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.