As the year 2002 dawns, what better time for Leslie Nielson to spoof the futuristic epic “2001: A Space Odyssey”? This March, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment releases the comedy 2001: A Space Travesty.

When the president of the United States is kidnapped by aliens and replaced with a clone, the police call on Marshal “Dick” Dix of the International Security Force to help rescue him-and quickly before the clone the rest of the world’s leaders. With the fate of the world in his clumsy hands, Dix heads to the planet Vegan, a strange place run by an evil doctor and inhabited by aliens who, having learned to speak English from watching television, all talk like different Hollywood movie stars. After engaging in some freaky lunar socializing, Dix joins forces with sexy officer Cassandra Menage and master of disguise Captain di Pasquale to rescue the saxophone-playing president. They return to Washington, D.C. and accomplish their mission of replacing the cloned president with the real president. Or do they?

Like most Columbia titles, “2001” comes with a new anamorphic widescreen and fullscreen transfer, and audio in Dolby Digital 5.1. Unfortunately, no special features accompany the film.

On March 19th, the new space-age spoof will hit shelves with a suggested retail price of $24.95.