WAR AGAINST THE WORLD

STARZ SETS SAIL WITH THE THIRD SEASON OF "BLACK SAILS" ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 23RD

Beverly Hills, Calif. - November 3, 2015 - STARZ today announced the premiere date for the highly anticipated third season of its Emmy(R)-award winning Original series "Black Sails," returning Saturday, January 23rd, 2016 at 9pm ET/PT. Season three opens in the wake of the destruction of Charles Town, where the world lives in fear of Captain Flint. When his campaign of terror crosses over into madness, it falls to John Silver to locate the man within the monster. Meanwhile, with Eleanor Guthrie gone, Jack Rackham and Captain Charles Vane struggle to secure Nassau for the ages.

The series, which is about to begin production on its recently announced fourth season in Cape Town, South Africa, is created by Jonathan E. Steinberg ("Jericho," "Human Target") and Robert Levine ("Touch") and executive produced by Michael Bay (the Transformers franchise, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor), and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Purge), as well as Chris Symes (Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Eragon) and Dan Shotz ("Jericho," "Harper's Island"). The complete second season is available on DVD and Blu-ray starting November 3, 2015.

The ten-episode third season of the authentic high seas drama follows the most feared pirate of the day, Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), and takes place twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic "Treasure Island." Ray Stevenson ('Rome," Insurgent, Divergent) joins the cast as the iconic pirate 'Blackbeard,' and Luke Roberts ("Wolf Hall," Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides") joins as historic figure 'Woodes Rogers.' In season three, all are tested when a new threat arrives in Nassau, one the pirates could never have anticipated. It knows them. It understands them. And in the blink of an eye, it will turn them against each other.

The first two seasons of "Black Sails" averaged 4.5 million multi-platform viewers per episode* and the series is distributed in over 175 countries and territories worldwide. "Black Sails" won two Emmy(R) Awards in 2014, for Outstanding Special and Visual Effects in a Supporting Role, and Outstanding Sound Editing.

"Black Sails" stars Toby Stephens as the brilliant and unstoppable 'Captain Flint.' Stephens is an accomplished film, television and stage actor, who will appear in the feature film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi directed by Michael Bay slated for release January 15, 2016, and is well-known for his role in Die Another Day. He starred in BBC's "Vexed" and on stage in "Noel Coward's Private Lives," and his many film credits include Believe and Twelfth Night. London-born Hannah New, who portrays 'Eleanor Guthrie,' starred in the miniseries, "El Tiempo Entre Costuras (The Time Between Seams)" and most recently in 2014's Maleficent. Luke Arnold, who portrays the classic character, 'John Silver' in the years before his well-known feats, has appeared in "McLeod's Daughters," "Rush," and most recently starred in the miniseries "INXS: The Michael Hutchence Story." Jessica Parker Kennedy, who plays 'Max' a former prostitute with an eye towards advancement, is known for her work in the television series, "The Secret Circle," and has appeared in the films 50/50 and In Time. British actor Tom Hopper , who portrays 'Billy Bones' of "Treasure Island" fame, is most well-known for his role as 'Sir Percival' in "Merlin" and has recently appeared in Northmen - A Viking Saga. Zach McGowan is featured as 'Captain Charles Vane,' a rival pirate to Captain Flint. McGowan is most well-known for his role in the series "Shameless" and appeared last year in the feature film Dracula Untold.

For more information, go to the official "Black Sails" Facebook Page and follow @BlkSails_Starz on Twitter and Instagram. Join the conversation with #BlackSails and #STARZ.

*Multiplatform results based on Starz internal estimates of linear and time shifted results from Nielsen (NPower), Rentrak (On Demand Essentials) and internal broadband data.

About Starz

Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution (Starz Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz Animation), www.starz.com.

Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ(R) and ENCORE(R) pay TV networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. As of September 30, 2015, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 55.8 million subscribers, including 23.3 million at STARZ, and 32.5 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ(R) and ENCORE(R), along with Starz Networks' third network MOVIEPLEX(R), air more than 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz Distribution's home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties.