Remember the days when Pirates were the kiss of death on the big screen? Before Johnny Depp came along and changed that forever. The phenomenal success of that first PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN in 2003 has a lot to answer for, but we’re hoping that CROSSBONES, NBC’s newly announced TV show, manages to return the genre to something that passes for interesting. Since it’s based on Colin Woodward’s 2007 book, THE REPUBLIC OF PIRATES: BEING THE TRUE AND SURPRISING STORY OF THE MAN WHO BROUGHT THEM DOWN (snappy title that), there’s a good chance this could be a direct response. Here’s the official synopsis…

It’s 1715 on the Bahamian island of New Providence, the first functioning democracy in the Americas, where the diabolical pirate Edward Teach, a.k.a. Blackbeard, reigns over a rogue nation of thieves, outlaws and miscreant sailors. Part shantytown, part marauder’s paradise, this is a place like no other on earth – and a mounting threat to international commerce. To gain control of this fearsome society, Tom Lowe, a highly skilled undercover assassin, is sent to the buccaneers’ haven to take down the brilliant and charismatic Blackbeard. But the closer Lowe gets, the more he finds that his quest is not so simple. Lowe can’t help but admire the political ideals of Blackbeard, whose thirst for knowledge knows no bounds – and no law. But Lowe is not the only danger to Blackbeard’s rule. He is a man with many villainous rivals and one great weakness – a passionately driven woman whom he cannot deny.

From the award-winning creator of “Luther,” Neil Cross, and award-winning producers Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, comes an extraordinary action adventure with an unexpected moral center where one can’t be sure whether the pirates or the British crown are the villains.

Anybody else concerned by the distinct lack of Squid-faced villains, Krakens, voodoo priestesses or annoying monkeys?!

The 10-part series will begin airing in the US next year. 

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