Yo ho, yo ho, Starz is singing a pirate tune as they’ve just signed a deal with Michael Bay for a pirate adventure series called Black Sails. The eight-episode first season will tell the tale of Captain Flint and his crew, and will take place 20 years before Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.
Starz Chief Executive Officer Chris Albrecht made the announcement, stating, “Starz is excited to be working with a visionary like Michael. Along with the high-octane action that is a hallmark of a Michael Bay production, it has the elements that Starz originals are striving to bring to the premium landscape: epic, larger-than-life, cinematic storytelling. The series is also a property we believe will appeal to the global content marketplace with broadcasters around the world.”
Bay added, “I’m excited to branch out into television, especially doing a long-form series for STARZ, a network known for supporting cutting-edge programming.”
Filming will begin at Cape Town Studios in Cape Town, South Africa later this year. Starz expects Black Sails to debut in 2014.
The Plot:
Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver. Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.
