Starz, Banderas explore Havana

US cablenet Starz has linked up with Entertainment One (eOne) Television to develop a drama series with Antonio Banderas based on Leonardo Padura’s Havana detective novels.

Antonia Banderas

The pilot for the show is being penned by Cuban writer Eduardo Machado (Magic City), who will exec produce with Banderas and Peter Nadermann of Nadcon Film, as well as Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny of Sienna Films.

eOne will produce and distribute the hour-long drama series, which is based on Padura novels Havana Blue, Havana Gold, Havana Red and Havana Black. The books follow the life of a hard-drinking, romantic cop who longs to be a writer but has settled for a job as a detective.

Starz will retain all network pay TV and SVoD rights to the show, with eOne’s Carrie Stein, exec VP of global productions, overseeing the project for the studio along with Becca Tesarfreund, director of development.

In related news, Starz has extended pirate period drama Black Sails, created by Jon Steinberg and Robert Levine and executive produced by Hollywood director Michael Bay (Transformers), into a fourth season.

The broadcaster has also confirmed that the third and final season of Da Vinci’s Demons and limited series will be made available in their entirety on its Starz Play and Starz On Demand services once their first episodes have premiered on October 24 and November 8.