Starz has handed out another early renewal. The cable channel has renewed Black Sails for a fourth season while the third season of 10 episodes won’t begin airing until some time in 2016.

Here’s the press release:

STARZ ORDERS FOURTH SEASON OF HIT ORIGINAL SERIES “BLACK SAILS”

Production on Season Four of the Pirate Drama Begins this Fall in South Africa

Beverly Hills, Calif. – July 31, 2015 – Starz announced today that its Emmy(R)-winning Original series “Black Sails” has been greenlit for a fourth season. The series is created by Jonathan E. Steinberg (“Jericho,” “Human Target”) and Robert Levine (“Touch”) and executive produced by Michael Bay (the Transformers franchise, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor), and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Purge), as well as Chris Symes (Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Eragon) and Dan Shotz (“Jericho,” “Harper’s Island”).

The ten-episode third season of the authentic high seas drama series, returning in 2016, follows the most feared pirate of the day, Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), and takes place twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic “Treasure Island.” Season three has seen the addition of Ray Stevenson (‘Rome,” Insurgent, Divergent) as the iconic pirate ‘Blackbeard.’

The first two seasons of “Black Sails” averaged 4.5 million multi-platform viewers per episode* and the series is distributed in over 175 countries and territories worldwide. “Black Sails” won two Emmy(R) Awards in 2014, for Outstanding Special and Visual Effects in a Supporting Role, and Outstanding Sound Editing.

“Black Sails” stars Toby Stephens as the brilliant and unstoppable ‘Captain Flint.’ Stephens is an accomplished film, television and stage actor, who will appear in the 2016 feature film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi directed by Michael Bay, and is well-known for his role in Die Another Day. He starred in BBC’s “Vexed” and on stage in “Noel Coward’s Private Lives.” His many film credits include Believe and Twelfth Night. London-born Hannah New portrays ‘Eleanor Guthrie,’ a beautiful and determined young woman who runs the smuggling operation on New Providence. New starred in the mini-series, “El Tiempo Entre Costuras (The Time Between Seams),” the feature Fuga De Cerebros 2, and most recently in Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning. Luke Arnold portrays the classic character, ‘John Silver,’ in the years before his well-known feats. Arnold is a native of Australia, where he began working in television on series including “McLeod’s Daughters,” “Rush” and “Rescue: Special Ops.” He also went on to appear in the feature film, Broken Hill and most recently starred in the mini-series “INXS: The Michael Hutchence Story.” Jessica Parker Kennedy is in the role of ‘Max,’ a young prostitute with an eye towards advancement. Parker Kennedy is known for her work in the television series, “The Secret Circle,” and has appeared in the films 50/50 and In Time. British actor Tom Hopper stars as ‘Billy Bones’ of “Treasure Island” fame. Hopper is most well-known for his role as ‘Sir Percival’ in “Merlin” and has recently appeared in Northmen – A Viking Saga. Zach McGowan is featured as ‘Captain Charles Vane,’ a rival pirate to Captain Flint. McGowan is most well-known for his role in the series “Shameless” and appeared last year in the feature film Dracula Untold.

For more information, go to the official “Black Sails” Facebook Page and follow @BlkSails_Starz on Twitter and Instagram. Join the conversation with #BlackSails and #STARZ.

*Multiplatform results based on Starz internal estimates of linear and time shifted results from Nielsen (NPower), Rentrak (On Demand Essentials) and internal broadband data.

About Starz

Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution (Starz Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz Animation), www.starz.com.

Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ(R) and ENCORE(R) pay TV networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. As of June 30, 2015, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 56.8 million subscribers, including 23.5 million at STARZ, and 33.3 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ(R) and ENCORE(R), along with Starz Networks’ third network MOVIEPLEX(R), air more than 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz Distribution’s home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences worldwide.

What do you think? Do you like the Black Sails TV show? How long should it run?