CINEMAX RENEWS EMMY(R)-WINNING HIT ACTION SERIES "BANSHEE" FOR THIRD SEASON

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30, 2014 - CINEMAX has renewed the Emmy(R)-winning hit action series BANSHEE for a third season, scheduled to debut in 2015, it was announced today by Kary Antholis, president, HBO Miniseries and CINEMAX Programming. The show is currently in its second season, with episodes debuting Fridays at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT).

Executive produced by Jonathan Tropper, David Schickler, Peter Macdissi, Alan Ball and Greg Yaitanes, BANSHEE stars Antony Starr ("Rush") as Lucas Hood and Ivana Milicevic ("Charlie's Angels," HBO's "Mind of the Married Man") as Carrie Hopewell. The series tells the story of Hood, an ex-con and master thief who tracks down Hopewell, his former lover and partner in crime, who has reinvented herself as the wife of the Banshee, Pa. prosecutor. In Banshee, Hood assumes the identity of the town's sheriff and continues his criminal activities, even as he's hunted by the shadowy gangsters he betrayed years earlier.

In Sept. 2013, BANSHEE received a Primetime Emmy(R) Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role. The series has been hailed by the Hollywood Reporter as "taut, entertaining and smart," while TV Guide called it "addictively entertaining."

Also starring in season two are: Ulrich Thomsen ("The Celebration"), Frankie Faison ("The Good Wife," HBO's "The Wire"), Hoon Lee ("Premium Rush"), Rus Blackwell ("Burn Notice," HBO's "Recount"), Matt Servitto (HBO's "The Sopranos"), Demetrius Grosse ("Justified"), Trieste Kelly Dunn ("Brothers and Sisters"), Ryann Shane ("Blue Bloods"), Anthony Ruivivar ("Southland," "Third Watch"), Lili Simmons ("Fat Kid Rules the World"), Odette Annable ("House M.D.," "Cloverfield") and Ben Cross ("Star Trek," "Ben-Hur").

Guest stars for season two include Zeljko Ivanek ("Damages," "Seven Psychopaths," HBO's "True Blood"), Tatanka Means ("The Host," "Tiger Eyes") and Julian Sands ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "24").

Other upcoming drama series on CINEMAX include: "The Knick," directed by Academy Award(R) and Emmy(R) winner Steven Soderbergh and starring Academy Award(R) and Emmy(R) nominee Clive Owen, which debuts this summer; and "Strike Back," the hit action series currently filming its final season.

BANSHEE was created by Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler; executive producers, Alan Ball, Greg Yaitanes, Jonathan Tropper, David Schickler, Peter Macdissi; producer, Robert F. Phillips.