GENTLE BEN: TERROR ON THE MOUNTAIN

He lives in an abandoned mine. He weighs one thousand pounds. Even with his teeth bared, roaring on his haunches, he’s as gentle as a lamb. Just ask his new best friend.

With his parents overseas doing charity work for the summer, 12-year-old Mark Wedloe (Reiley McClendon, Pearl Harbor) is left in the care of his Uncle Jack (Dean Cain, The Runaway), a forest ranger living in a sleepy wilderness town that’s a world apart from Mark’s Los Angeles home. Mark’s most inspiring new life lessons come from Native American Peter Sweeny (Gil Birmingham, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), his uncle’s spiritual-minded deputy. He teaches Mark of the special bond between animals and humans, of communicating with God’s wild creatures, and he reveals the legend of Grizzly Valley, where great bears roam free and safe from poachers and trappers. There’s one bear in particular that becomes more than a legend to the adventurous young boy. His name is Ben.

However, the unique bond that develops between Mark and Ben is soon threatened. Mayor Fog Benson (Golden Globe nominee Corbin Bernsen, Tidal Wave: No Escape) is convinced that Ben’s responsible for the attacks on his sheep and has offered a reward for the bear’s pelt. The money is second to an enterprising team that has invaded the town to capture the extraordinary grizzly for a headline-making zoo attraction. But the true test of Mark’s spirit and strength comes when his parents disappear in a plane crash over Indonesia. It’s a tragedy that brings social services to his uncle’s door with a threat to take the young boy away. It also sends Mark into the wilderness he now calls home and into the tenuously safe haven of Gentle Ben to protect the most valuable friendship of his life.

Inspired by Walt Morey’s classic novel, Gentle Ben is a rewarding and exciting new adventure about the power of family, the rewards of unconditional love, and the unbreakable bond between a boy and his dream.