HONG KONG – Syfy’s upcoming six-hour mini-series “Childhood’s End,” is to shoot from November in Melbourne, Australia.

The epic U.S. science fiction series is based on the classic 1953 Arthur C. Clarke novel, follows a peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious ‘Overlords’. Their arrival begins decades of apparent utopia under indirect alien rule, at the cost of human identity and culture.

Backed by Universal Cable Productions, a division of NBCUniversal, the series was secured through Film Victoria with financial support from the Victoria state government. Pre-production begins this month, with shooting at Docklands Studios Melbourne extending for 13 weeks into 2015. It will be produced by HayPop’s Jeff Hayes and Brett Popplewell.

Adaptation is by Matthew Graham (creator of BBC’s “Life on Mars,”), with Mike DeLuca (“Captain Philips,” “Moneyball,” “The Social Network”) and Akiva Goldsman (“Paranormal Activity,” “I Am Legend”) attached as executive producers.

“Around 380 talented local practitioners, including up to 15 heads of department, will work on the Childhood’s End production, generating an estimated $20 million in production expenditure in Victoria,” Victoria minister Louise Asher said.

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