Starz to Premiere DA VINCI'S DEMONS on 4/12

Starz announced today that the historical fantasy "Da Vinci's Demons," an original series created by David S. Goyer, co-writer of The Dark Knight Trilogy, will premiere on STARZ in the U.S. on Friday, April 12 at 10 pm, following the finale of "Spartacus: War of the Damned." After the premiere on April 12th, the series will air Friday nights at 9pm et/pt. The eight-episode drama, produced by Adjacent Productions, follows the 'untold' story of the world's greatest genius, Leonardo da Vinci, during his turbulent youth in Renaissance Florence. BBC Worldwide is distributing the series internationally and FOX International Channels (FIC) has acquired the series across FIC's portfolio of 200 pay-TV entertainment channels. FIC will be premiering the show to audiences in 120 countries in Latin America, Europe, Asia, The Middle East and Africa in the month of April.

Brilliant and passionate, the 25-year- old Leonardo da Vinci is an artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist. As a free thinker, with intellect and talents that are almost superhuman, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time. He begins to not only see the future, but invent it.

"Da Vinci's Demons" will star Tom Riley, who has received wide critical acclaim in the UK for his performances in theater, film and on television and was nominated by the Drama Desk Awards for his performance in the 2011 Tony(R) Award nominated Broadway play, "Arcadia." Riley's co-stars include Laura Haddock (The Inbetweeners Movie, "Honest," Captain America: The First Avenger) who plays the celebrated beauty with obscure motives, Lucrezia Donati; Elliot Cowan ("Marchlands," "The Fixer," "Lost in Austen") who plays the shrewd de factor ruler of Florence, Lorenzo Medici; Lara Pulver ("True Blood," "Sherlock," "Robin Hood"), who plays his wife Clarice Orsini; and Blake Ritson (Serena, "Upstairs Downstairs") plays the ruthless and unwavering Count Girolamo Riario, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV.

Goyer, who wrote the series, served as showrunner and directed the first two episodes, is also screenwriter of the highly anticipated Man of Steel premiering June 2013 and served as script consultant and story developer for "Call of Duty: Black Ops," and "Black Ops II", the most successful video game franchise of all time. Julie Gardner is Executive Producer, along with Jane Tranter, head of Adjacent Productions. The series was shot in Swansea this summer. The series is produced by Adjacent Productions, a label launched in 2012 that sits within BBC Worldwide Productions and serves to identify new formats created and produced under the company's umbrella.