From David S. Goyer, the Starz drama series Da Vinci’s Demons tells the secret history of Leonardo da Vinci’s (Tom Riley) tantalizing life, revealing a portrait of a young man tortured by the gift of superhuman genius.  With a quest for knowledge that is sure to be his undoing and armed only with his genius, he finds himself caught in the conflict between truth and lies, and religion and reason.

During this exclusive interview with Collider, co-stars Laura Haddock (“Lucrezia Donati”) and Lara Pulver (“Clarice Orsini”) talked about how they each came to be a part of the show, what they enjoy most about their characters, how they view the multi-layered women they play, how much research they chose to do, what the elaborate costumes are like to wear, and just how sexy and daring the show is.  Check out what they had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

It appears that Starz is happy with the numbers and vision for executive producer David S. Goyer’s new drama series Da Vinci’s Demons.  The network announced today that it has greenlit production of a second season of the show, with filming poised to get underway in Wales next month.  The series premiere set records for the network, nabbing 2.14 million total viewers.  The show stars Tom Riley and centers on the titular artist/inventor/swordsman/idealist living in Renaissance Florence, struggling to exist within the confines of his own reality and time as he begins to not only see the future, but invent it.  Season two is expected to air on Starz in 2014.  If you missed Steve’s extended interview with Goyer about the show, including the producer’s thoughts on a second season, click here.

From David S. Goyer, the new Starz drama series Da Vinci’s Demons tells the secret history of Leonardo da Vinci’s (Tom Riley) tantalizing life, revealing a portrait of a young man tortured by the gift of superhuman genius.  With a quest for knowledge that is sure to be his undoing and armed only with his genius, he finds himself caught in the conflict between truth and lies, and religion and reason.

During this exclusive interview with Collider, British actor Tom Riley talked about how he came to be a part of this fantasy adventure series, what appealed to him about playing such an iconic historical figure, that he was able to read eight scripts before they started shooting, how much he loves the physical side of the role, that there will be both season-long and series-long arcs, that a lot of threads will be tied up by the end of the season while some are left open, and how he’s able to identify with the human side of the man.  Check out what he had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

Something about Da Vinci’s Demons, a new 8-part Starz miniseries, felt very familiar as I was watching its first two episodes.  The handsome, fit young man, the flowing blouse (chest always exposed), the leather “tunic” that really just looks like a regular modern leather jacket, a portrait of a genius as a young, lusty rogue — yes, I’ve got it: it’s Shakespeare In Love!  Tom Riley, as Leonardo da Vinci, is particularly reminiscent of Joseph Fiennes in his portrayal of a young and lusty William Shakespeare, and it’s neither a wholly good or wholly bad thing.  Hit the jump for my preview of this upcoming drama (which is worth a watch) and why, as it says, “history is a lie.”

Premiering tonight on Starz is David S. Goyer‘s Da Vinci’s Demons.   The show stars Tom Riley as the artist/inventor/swordsman/idealist living in Renaissance Florence, struggling to exist within the confines of his own reality and time as he begins to not only see the future, but invent it.  I’ve seen the first four episodes and they’re really well done.  I definitely recommend tuning in later tonight.  For more on the show, watch this trailer.

Recently, I sat down with Goyer for an extended interview.  We talked about  how much of the show is based on actual facts, how important it is to balance storylines that resolve themselves within a season and those that carry on throughout multiple seasons, whether he knows the answers to the bigger story arcs, the portrayal of the Catholic Church (specifically the Pope), Bear McCreary‘s music, creating the show’s sets practically and shooting on location in castles, season 2, and more.  In addition, we talked about The Count of Monte Cristo, Godzilla, his thoughts on Man of Steel after watching a screening, whether he would be willing to do more Batman movies, and more.

A couple of new trailers have been released for two new pay cable drama series.  Showtime has unveiled an extended look at its new series Ray Donovan, which stars Liev Schreiber as a “fixer” for the rich and famous in Los Angeles whose life is complicated when his powerful father—whom he may or may not have framed—is unexpectedly released from prison.  Despite the bland title, the show actually looks like a fairly interesting character drama with a pair of strong performances by Schreiber and Jon Voight.  The series premieres on Showtime on Sunday, June 30th.

Additionally, Starz has unveiled a new look at its period series Da Vinci’s Demons.  From executive producer David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), the show stars Tom Riley as the titular artist/inventor/swordsman/idealist living in Renaissance Florence, struggling to exist within the confines of his own reality and time as he begins to not only see the future, but invent it.  The series premieres on Starz on Friday, April 12th.  Hit the jump to watch the trailers for Ray Donovan and Da Vinci’s Demons.

STARZ handed out a few announcements today for the following shows:

• The premiere of Da Vinci’s Demons will be Friday, April 12, 2013 at 9pm ET/PT.  The network also released a new trailer for the series from David S. Goyer (co-writer of The Dark Knight Trilogy) starring Tom Riley (Monroe).
• The second season of Magic City, featuring the addition of James Caan (The Godfather), can also be previewed in a new trailer.
• The new series Black Sails, produced by Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes with Neil Marshall (Game of Thrones) set to direct the first episode, has officially begun production in Cape Town, South Africa.

Hit the jump to watch the trailers for Da Vinci’s Demons and Magic City, along with the press release for Black Sails.

The first trailer is now available for Da Vinci’s Demons, a Starz series from writer David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Man of Steel).  No historical documentary, Da Vinci’s Demons stars Tom Riley (I Want Candy) as the title character, a twenty-five year old artist/inventor/swordsman/idealist living in Renaissance Florence.  How fantastic is it that an iconic scientist is finally getting a badass heroic treatment?  For more on Da Vinci’s Demons, be sure to check out Steve’s recent interview with Goyer, who is the showrunner for the series.

Also starring Laura Haddock (Captain America: The First Avenger) and Lara Pulver (Sherlock), Da Vinci’s Demons will air its eight-episode first season on Starz in the spring of 2013.  Hit the jump to see the first trailer and full press release for Starz’ Da Vinci’s Demons.

Premiering on Starz in the first half of 2013 is David S. Goyer‘s Da Vinci’s Demons.   Starring Tom Riley (as Leonardo Da Vinci), Laura Haddock and Lara Pulver, the show is a “historical fantasy, following the ‘untold’ story of the world’s greatest genius during his turbulent youth in Renaissance.”

At this year’s New York Comic-Con, I was able to talk with Goyer before his panel.  During both a roundtable and exclusive interview he talked about how he got attached to the project, how Da Vinci’s Demons could never air on network TV, the exciting visuals for the show, the fact that he “shamelessly pillaged the crews of Luther, Sherlock and Game of Thrones,” getting Bear McCreary to do the score, and more.  In addition, I also asked when we might see the next trailer for Man of Steel (which he wrote), the difference between working on cable and network TV and why he became frustrated with Flash Forward, and he set the record straight regarding whether there were a lot of deleted scenes from The Dark Knight Rises.  Hit the jump for more.

As part of the Starz portion of the TCA Press Tour, President and CEO Chris Albrecht took some time to talk about the shows they currently have in production, and what their upcoming slate will look like.  During the interview, he spoke about how they decide what original programming will be done for Starz and what will be done for Encore, the production challenges of the Michael Bay pirate series Black Sails (currently in pre-production in South Africa), how they came to the decision to end Spartacus, their desire to continue to work with that show’s creator Steven DeKnight, and when Black Sails, Da Vinci’s Demons, Marco Polo and Noir could hit the air.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Starz just debuted their new original series Boss with Kelsey Grammer on October 21st, and now the cable network is moving forward with yet another new series. Starz and BBC Worldwide Productions announced an adventure series called Da Vinci’s Demons. Writer David S. Goyer, the man behind films like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight will script the series which follows the “untold” story of the great titular genius during his raucous youth in Renaissance Florence. As a 25-year old artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time as he begins to not only see the future, but invent it.

Goyer says, ” This will be a show about secret histories, genius, madness, and all things profane.” Starz Media Managing Director, Carmi Zlotnik adds, “David has reimagined some of the most iconic superheroes of all time, and is again building an extraordinary prism through which to rediscover the world’s greatest genius and most mysterious man.  If modern day has Tony Stark, the Renaissance had Da Vinci.” It’s interesting to hear a historical figure like da Vinci referred to as a sort of superhero, but that’s part of selling the series as an adventure. Likely this will be quite an exaggerated version of history to make for solid entertainment, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be good. For a few more details, hit the jump for the full press release.