LOS ANGELES — Winner of the XRCO’s 2011 New Starlet award, Vivid Girl Allie Haze is the new star of the celebrated Emmanuelle franchise, makes her debut as the iconic character in Emmanuelle Through Time: Emmanuelle’s Sexy Bite, airing Saturday night at 12:30 am EDT on Cinemax.

Written and directed by F.W. Nosferatu, and produced by Alain Siritzky—the original producer of the earliest entries in the series—the R-rated erotic action comedy also stars Seth Gamble, Mia Hope, Russia Hardy, Jason Sarcinelli, Faye Reagan, Lux Kassidy and Ron Jeremy.

“When we were looking for the new Emmanuelle, I knew that she had to be a beautiful girl with a modern and tough personality,” Nosferatu said.

“We wanted someone innocent yet independent, with a Buffy-like attitude that balances sexiness, innocence, toughness and a flair for comedy. We found that in Allie. She actually plays multiple roles in Sexy Bite and you see a real range in her performance that will delight fans old and new. This Emmanuelle kicks ass … literally!”

The Emmanuelle series began in 1974, based on the novel of the same name by Emmanuelle Arsan. The first film was directed by Just Jaeckin with Sylvia Kristel in the lead role, and it was released theatrically in the U.S. by Columbia Pictures. The series has endured through dozens of sequels and revamps ever since.

The announcement that Allie Haze had taken over the role of Emmanuelle came shortly after she had signed an exclusive contract with Vivid Entertainment, as well as collected the XRCO’s 2011 New Starlet trophy.