It’s a pirate’s life for NBC; the network has given out another straight-to-series order today. Crossbones, based on the book The Republic of Pirates will go right to series production with a 10-episode order of the show that centers on one of history’s most famous pirate captains, Blackbeard himself.
The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard tells the true story of the heyday of seven seas robbery and general bad behavior back in the 1700s, centered on the infamous Blackbeard and his crew of bad boys. Blackbeard, whose real name was Edward Teach, terrified the Eastern American seaboard and the West Indies in the early 1700s through his death in 1718 in a spectacular battle. The book chronicles his life and descent into piracy, as well as his death which in terms of the show is no doubt being saved for a grand finale whenever the series comes to a final end.
Titled Crossbones, the adaptation is being written by Luther creator Neil Cross, and is produced by husband and wife team Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. NBC slipped the announcement of the straight-to-series order for the drama into the upfronts today, The Hollywood Reporter says.
Crossbones represents the second such order, following the straight-to-series pickup of Hannibal, a Silence of the Lambs prequel from Bryan Fuller. It brings the new drama series orders for NBC to a total of 5 for the month. NBC has to be banking on continued interest in pirates, first brought back to life with the Pirates of the Caribbean films which just logged a fourth installment.
