REUNITED AGAIN! FOUR-TIME EMMY� AWARD NOMINEE RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN AND THREE-TIME GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER RACHEL WARD ROAM THE CARIBBEAN IN �BLACKBEARD,� A THREE-HOUR HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE EVENT PREMIERING JUNE 17

Movie Event Stars Angus Macfadyen in the Title Role, Mark Umbers, Jessica Chastain and Stacy Keach Also Star in the Swashbuckling Adventure

Cannons roar, cutlasses clash and the Jolly Roger flies high as one of history�s most notorious cutthroats sails the Caribbean in search of buried treasure in the rousing Hallmark Channel Original Movie event, �Blackbeard� which premieres June 17 (8/7c). �Blackbeard� marks the first time that four-time Emmy� Award nominee Richard Chamberlain and three-time Golden Globe nominee Rachel Ward have starred together since their memorable pairing in �The Thorn Birds.�

Angus Macfadyen (�The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood,� �The Rat Pack�) stars in the title role, Mark Umbers (soon to be seen in movie theaters in �The Good Woman�) plays a dashing Royal Navy officer and newcomer Jessica Chastain is the feisty heroine. Stacy Keach (�Prison Break,� �Mike Hammer�) also stars as a pirate captain undone by Blackbeard�s ruthless cunning.

The story begins as Lieutenant Robert Maynard (Umbers) sets sail for the Caribbean port of New Providence, ruled over by its corrupt governor, Charles Eden (Chamberlain). The officer, on a secret mission to rid the islands of buccaneers, has looked after Eden�s beautiful adopted daughter Charlotte (Chastain) during their perilous Atlantic crossing. But New Providence holds dangers for the young heiress also, as she learns after driving off a band of brigands who attack her carriage. When one of the rogues appears at Charlotte�s birthday ball, Maynard dons a disguise and follows him to the Boar & Thistle, run by the bawdy, pipe-smoking Sally Dunbar (Ward).

He discovers that the tavern is the hangout for the seagoing psychopath Edward Teach (Macfadyen), aka Blackbeard, who apparently is allowed safe refuge in Eden�s New Providence. The pirate has recently relieved his captain (Keach) of command of the Queen Anne�s Revenge, as well as of a letter that he believes holds the key to the secret location of Captain Kidd�s fabled buried treasure. When the naval officer passes himself off as an at-liberty navigator, Blackbeard takes interest. He needs a navigator, having murdered his own. With Sally�s help, Blackbeard kidnaps Maynard. The lieutenant awakens from his drugged sleep to find himself at sea, forced to guide the men he is sworn to bring to justice, while Charlotte, the woman he loves, is on shore unaware that Eden is plotting to steal her inheritance.

�Blackbeard� is an RHI Entertainment presentation of a Silverstar Limited production in association with Larry Levinson Productions. Kevin Connor directed from a script by Bryce Zabel. Robert Halmi, Jr. and Larry Levinson are executive producers. Nick Lombardo, Michael Moran, H. Daniel Gross and Therese Ryan are co-executive producers and Russell D. Markowitz is producer.

Hallmark Channel is a 24-hour basic cable channel that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of over 73 million subscribers. The program service is distributed through more than 5,300 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel. Through its subsidiary, Crown Media Distribution, LLC, Crown also distributes titles from its award-winning collection of movies, miniseries and films for exhibition in a variety of television media including broadcast, cable, Video-on-Demand and High Definition Television.

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