Thanks to Johnny Depp, pirates successfully staged a comeback on the big screen during the course of the last decade. Not content with that, they now look set to conquer the small screen too. NBC are busy prepping their pirates series “Crossbones,” Fox are working on a couple of projects, and back in May Starz announced that they has issued a straight-to-series order for a new pirate adventure drama called “Black Sails” with Michael Bay exec producing. Who wouldn’t want to see a pirate show from Michael Bay, right?
To be fair, it sounds like the kind of idea that could play to Bay’s strengths. The eight-episode series will be set two decades before the events of the classic novel “Treasure Island” and follows Captain Flint and his men. Threatened by extinction, they fight for the survival of the notorious criminal haven New Providence Island – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes and thieves. Sounds like you need a director who has shown that he can kick ass on a high-action, sex and violence-fueled episode of cable television.
Hey, what’s that guy who directed the Blackwater episode of “Game of Thrones” up to?
Well, nothing that’s going to stop him directing the “Black Sails” pilot is the answer. Neil Marshall (“The Descent”) has signed on the helm the pilot and you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who would argue that he isn’t the perfect choice. Bay has reportedly been very hands on in creating the show’s visual style and it will be Marshall who now translates (read: improves) that when it goes in front of cameras. The series is currently in pre-production over in Cape Town, South Africa, and Starz are reportedly eyeing the show for an early 2014 launch. [Deadline]
