FX, increasingly becoming a player in the lucrative basic cable market, has just signed an agreement with GK-TV and Fox International to partner and co-finance a new television production based on Jamaica’s notorious Port Royal. By the late 1600s, trade was bustling in the New World. Slaves were being imported from Africa, furs were being exported from North America and European powers were still offering charters and contracts for eager sailors and explorers to document the land and pillage the New World of its resources. Out of this mercantilism came a breed of lawless pirates intent on plundering for themselves. Their safe haven was Port Royal, and they ruled the land with a merciless and drunken aggression, protecting their interests at the bodily harm of outsiders and even each other.
According to Deadline, the concept for Port Royal came from Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, and she’ll serve as the new series’ executive producer. The hourlong drama should begin principal photography shortly with an eye toward premiering on FX and Fox International stations worldwide sometime next year.
I’m such a sucker for lawless period dramas. I can’t help it. Enticed in by the promises of quasi-history, I plan to just watch an episode or two to see what the sets look like and before I know what the hell happened, it’ll be past the point of no return. It happened with Rome. It happened with The Tudors. It happened with Spartacus: Blood & Sand, and I am eighty-five percent positive it will happen with Port Royal. My only chance is to avoid the first episode, but goddamnit, I really want to know what the sets are going to look like. Guess I’m adding another show to my already busy viewing schedule.
