BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.,
April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Starz
Chief Executive Officer, Chris
Albrecht, announced a second season order for the STARZ
Original series, "Da Vinci's Demons," following its recent
record-setting first season weekend debut on STARZ on Friday, April 12. The historical fantasy created
by David S. Goyer and produced by
Adjacent Productions, follows the 'untold' story of the world's
greatest genius, Leonardo da Vinci,
during his turbulent youth in Renaissance Florence. More than
2.14 million total viewers tuned-in opening weekend to "Da Vinci's
Demons," making it the highest-rated premiere weekend ever for a
STARZ Original series.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080522/LATH063LOGO-b)
Production of season two of "Da Vinci's Demons" is expected to
begin in Wales in May 2013, with an on-air return expected on STARZ
in 2014.
"'Da Vinci's Demons' serves up action, adventure and history in
a unique and highly entertaining way that only someone like
David S. Goyer can," said
Albrecht. "The first season premiered to strong audience
engagement and we are excited to bring the next chapter of
Leonardo da Vinci's adventures to
audiences around the world."
"I'm excited that we get to continue the adventures of the
world's most eccentric and glorious polymath. Long live
Leonardo and thanks to Starz for helping to make it happen," said
Goyer.
Jane Tranter, Executive Producer
of "Da Vinci's Demons" and Head of Adjacent Productions, commented,
"'Da Vinci's Demons' has been a great passion project for us and it
has been a privilege to work with Chris, Carmi and their terrific
team at Starz, and with the creative vision of David S. Goyer. We're excited to continue
this journey for another season and to bring the genius, passion
and adventure of Goyer's Leonardo da
Vinci to viewers around the world."
Outside of the United States
and English-speaking Canada, "Da
Vinci's Demons" is distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide.
Fox International Channels (FIC) acquired the first season of the
series and premiered it to audiences in 120 countries in
Latin America, Europe, Asia,
the Middle East and Africa following Starz's exclusive premiere in
the U.S. on April
12th.
Brilliant and passionate, 25-year-old Leonardo da Vinci is an artist, inventor,
swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist. As a free thinker, with
intellect and talents that are almost superhuman, he struggles to
live within the confines of his own reality and time. He
begins to not only see the future, but invent it.
"Da Vinci's Demons" stars Tom
Riley, who has received wide critical acclaim in the UK for
his performances in theater, film and on television and was
nominated by the Drama Desk Awards for his performance in the 2011
Tony® Award nominated Broadway play, "Arcadia." Riley's co-stars include
Laura Haddock (The Inbetweeners
Movie, "Honest," Captain America: The First Avenger) who
plays the celebrated beauty, Lucrezia
Donati; Elliot Cowan
("Marchlands," "The Fixer," "Lost in Austen") who plays the shrewd
de factor ruler of Florence,
Lorenzo Medici; Lara Pulver ("True Blood," "Sherlock,"
"Robin Hood"), who plays his wife
Clarice Orsini; and Blake Ritson (Serena, "Upstairs
Downstairs") plays the ruthless and unwavering Count
Girolamo Riario, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV.
Goyer, who serves as showrunner and directed the first two
episodes of the first season, is co-writer of The Dark
Knight Trilogy and screenwriter of the highly anticipated
Man of Steel premiering June
2013. Goyer's additional credits include serving as a
script consultant and story developer for "Call of Duty: Black
Ops," and "Black Ops II," the most successful video game franchise
of all time. Julie Gardner is
Executive Producer, along with Adjacent Productions' Head,
Jane Tranter. Tranter and
Gardner have been responsible for a plethora of titles in their
careers including "Doctor Who," "Torchwood," "Little Dorrit,"
"Bleak House," "Girl in a Cafe," "Ashes to Ashes" and "State of
Play."
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® and
ENCORE® 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 December 31, 2012, STARZ and ENCORE serve a
combined 56 million subscribers, including 21 million at STARZ, and
35 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium
flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ® and
ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks' third network
MOVIEPLEX®, air over 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. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie
content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences
worldwide.
About Adjacent Productions
Adjacent Productions is a label that sits within BBC Worldwide
Productions, one of five core businesses under BBC Worldwide
America, the U.S. division of BBC Worldwide, the main commercial
arm and wholly-owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC). The Adjacent Productions label serves to
identify new programming created by the Los Angeles-based production company, while
BBC Worldwide Productions identifies BBC reformats that the team
develops and produces for the U.S. market. The first scripted
series under the Adjacent Productions label is Da Vinci's
Demons (Starz). The second season of Breaking Pointe
(The CW) and Life Below Zero (National Geographic Channel)
will be the first two unscripted series to broadcast under Adjacent
Productions.
Contacts
for Starz:
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Theano
Apostolou
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Shannon
Buck
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Theano@starz.com
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Shannon.buck@starz.com
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424-204-4052
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424-204-4173
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Contact
for Adjacent Productions:
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Christine
Shaw
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Christine.shaw@bbc.com
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310-228-1620
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SOURCE Starz