Starz has ordered eight episodes of Black Sails, a pirate adventure series from Michael Bay (Transformers).

The first season will focus on Captain Flint and his men and will take place 20 years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure novel, Treasure Island. The drama is expected to bow in 2014. Here’s a description from the pay net: “Flint, the most brilliant and most feared pirate captain of his day, takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver. Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day — a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality.”

“Starz is excited to be working with a visionary like Michael,’” said Starz chief Chris Albrecht in a statement. “Along with the high-octane action that is a hallmark of a Michael Bay production, it has the elements that Starz originals are striving to bring to the premium landscape … epic, larger than life, cinematic storytelling. The series is also a property we believe will appeal to the global content marketplace with broadcasters around the world.”

The series is created by showrunner and executive producer Jon Steinberg (Jericho, Human Target) and co-executive producer Robert Levine (Touch). Production is set to shoot at Cape Town Studios in Cape Town, South Africa later this year.