Starz has found its Captain Flint.
Die Another Day's Toby Stephens has been tapped to star in the upcoming eight-episode original series Black Sails.
The series takes place 20 years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island and hails from executive producer Michael Bay and his Platinum Dunes shingle.
Stephens will play Flint, the most feared captain of all the Golden Age pirates and commander of the pirate ship Walrus. Threatened with extinction on all sides, he and his crew fight for survival of New Providence Island, a hub for criminals that's teaming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers. There, he'll find a young stranger named John Silver, with whom he'll add to his crew and set forth on a plan that could change the course of history.
English actor Stephens co-starred in the Bond feature Die Another Day. His credits also include The Great Gatsby, Space Cowboys and the upcoming All Things to All Men. On the small screen, he's appeared in The Walking Dead, Robin Hood, Strike Back and the BBC/PBS mini Jane Eyre.
Jericho's Jon Steinberg created the series and serves as showrunner and executive producer.
Production will begin at Cape Town Studios in Cape Town, South Africa, later this year. Stephens is repped by Paradigm.
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