TCA: Starz' ‘Da Vinci's Demons' to Debut April 12

New action adventure series will launch out of ‘Spartacus' finale

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/5/2013 2:30:48 PM

Pasadena, Calif. - Starz' new historical fantasy drama Da Vinci's Demons will premiere on Friday, April 12 at 10 p.m., following the finale of Spartacus: War of the Damned, the network announced at the 2013 Television Critics' Association winter press tour Saturday.

After the premiere, Da Vinci's Demons moves to Fridays at 9 p.m. The eight-episode series created by David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight trilogy) follows the untold story of Leonardo da Vinci during his youth in Renaissance Florence.

Produced by Adjacent Productions, BBC Worldwide will distribute Da Vinci's Demons internationally with Fox International Channels acquiring the series for its portfolio of 200 pay-TV entertainment channels.

Da Vinci's Demons is one of three series, along with the limited series The White Queen and drama Black Sails that will launch on Starz in the next year. The pay cable network also has at least three more series in development, part of its goal to "dramatically accelerate our ramp up into original programming," said Starz CEO Chris Albrecht, now that the company is being spun off as a separate company from Liberty Media.