First trailer for new Michael Bay-produced Starz pirate series “Black Sails”

Starz has released a first look (trailer below) at its new high-seas drama, Black Sails, an original pirate adventure series from executive producer Michael Bay expected to air on the network in 2014.

Some of the character names in Black Sails may sound familiar to fans of literature and swashbuckling adventure yarns. The eight-episode first season of Black Sails centers on the tales of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens, pictured) and his men, and takes place 20 years prior to the events of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel Treasure Island. Flint, the most brilliant and feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name of John Silver (Luke Arnold). 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.

Black Sails is currently filming in Cape Town, South Africa, and in addition to Toby Stephens and Luke Arnold, also stars Zack McGowan as Captain Charles Vane, a rival pirate captain; Hannah New as Eleanor Guthrie, a young woman who runs the smuggling operation on New Providence; Jessica Parker Kennedy as Max, a tortured young prostitute who sees the dark side of New Providence; and Clara Paget, who plays the beautiful but cold-blooded Anne Bonny.

Black Sails was created by Jon Steinberg (Jericho, Human Target), who serves as showrunner and co-executive producer, and co-executive producer Robert Levine (Touch).

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Toby Stephens in Black Sails: © 2014 Starz Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.