Sam Neill Starring In J.J. Abrams' 'Alcatraz'

Briefly: Add one more big name to the prison roster of Alcatraz, the new show being produced by J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk and Elizabeth Sarnoff, who wrote the pilot and will be showrunner. Sam Neill has just joined the cast in one of the lead roles. He'll play Emerson Hauser, "the head of a government agency who radiates authority and piercing intelligence."

We still don't know a lot about the show, other than it is about a cop (Sarah Jones) and some FBI agents trying to track down prisoners and guards who disappeared from the prison while it was active and reappear in the present day. Jorge Garcia (Lost) plays an Alcatraz historian/expert and Jonny Coyne (Undercovers) and Jason Butler Harner (Fringe) play prison warden Edwin James and associate warden E.B. Tiller, respectively. [Deadline]