TCA: Starz Renews ‘Black Sails,’ Spikes ‘Boss’ Movie

Starz CEO Chris Abrecht also says it picked up BBC mini "Dancing on the Edge"

Starz has renewed its upcoming pirate drama "Black Sails," from Michael Bay, for a second season, and will air the five-part miniseries "Dancing on the Edge," which originally aired at BBC, Starz CEO Chris Albrecht announced at the  Television Critics Assn. gathering in Beverly Hills on Friday.

The 10-episode second season of "Black Sails" — which premieres its first season in January — will begin production in Cape Town, South Africa in November.

"Michael Bay, ['Black Sails' showrunner] Jon Steinberg and their teams delivered a spectacular first season of 'Black Sails,' and we are incredibly proud of everyone's work," Albrecht said. "Based on the strong fan response to the preview screening at last week's Comic-Con, we felt an early order for a second season would allow the writers, cast and crew enough time and space to continue crafting such unique style and epic storytelling."

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"Dancing on the Edge," which premieres on Starz in October, features an ensemble cast that includes Jacqueline Bisset and John Goodman and comes from writer/director Stephen Poliakoff ("The Lost Prince"). The musical drama is inspired by accounts of the Duke Ellington Band's mingling with the future Duke of Windsor Edward VIII in Europe. The series is set in London during the 1930s.

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Albrecht also said that a proposed movie to tie up loose ends on Starz's canceled Kelsey Grammer political drama "Boss" is "not going to happen," adding that they were unable to find a way to make it work.

In its eight-episode first season, "Black Sails," which is executive produced by Michael Bay along with his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, follows Captain Flint (played by "Die Another Day" actor Toby Stephens), taking place 20 years prior to the events in the Robert Louis Stephenson pirate classic "Treasure Island."

More to come…

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