Television

Starz Lines Up Talent for New Michael Bay Drama “Black Sails”

December 3, 2012

Ahoy matey! According to Deadline Hollywood, Starz is set for a new pirate series. The goal is to get it out in 2014, with eight episodes already green lighted by the company and that’s not all. Famed producer/director Michael Bay is attached to the new series, “Black Sails,” which will serve as a prequel to “Treasure Island”; The famous swashbuckling young-adult tale of seafaring adventure by Robert Louis Stevenson. The characters, adapted from the novel, are set to be 20 years younger, but the plot is the same.

Swashbuckling Adventure

Casting stars include Toby Stephens, who plays Captain Flint, the most feared of all the pirate captains. According to NuketheFridge.com, readers can expect to see Jon Steinberg, known for his work on “Jericho,” perform his rendition of the Captain. In this series, Flint and his crew are embroiled in a battle no pirate can win, the protection of their lair on New Providence Island.

The show has renowned director Bay serving as executive producer, and writer Neil Marshall of “The Descent” and “Game of Thrones.” Production is slated to begin soon in Cape Town, South Africa. Starz gave Bay and the team seven episodes of “Black Sails” for the season after an impressive pilot, according to ChicagoTribune.com. If the show is as successful as it sounds like it’s going to be, a bright future of skullduggery and swashbuckling adventure awaits fans.

Production Set to Begin

Filming is ready to begin soon, and with a cast of stars from the BBC, the series will be a hit for viewers with a taste for the seafaring world. Pirate Captain Flint, played by Toby Stephens, is a feared commander. As the story unveils, Flint’s crew recruits a young two-legged John Silver, whom treasure islanders will know as the “one-legged man.” That is 20 years later, and readers of the novel know what happens when John Silver joins up. Jessica Parker Kennedy is set to costar in the drama opposite Stephens. Kennedy is playing the role of Max, a French harlot with a cool demeanor. She is known for her reoccurring role in the cast of CW’S “90210.”

Filling the Bill

It’s a pirate drama, and Bay knows action; the pairing is perfect. The crew of the “Black Sails” includes BBC star Tom Hopper, who plays the famous Billy Bones, the first mate of the Walrus who eventually ends up in a gridlock sword fight with Captain Flint. One glance at the first few chapters of “Treasure Island” will give you more insight into this character. Higgins has portrayed Sir Percival in the recent BBC Drama “Merlin.” Besides that, he was recently in an episode of “Doctor Who” and is also starring in a World War II production of “Grace and Danger.”

This show is sure to be a hit, and with pirates, it cannot really go wrong. Bay, Marshall and the rest of the production team lined up a stellar cast for a the pirate-themed prequel, one that Stephenson would not want to have missed.