CINEMAX CONFIRMS LINEUP OF NEW AND RETURNING ORIGINAL SERIES, INCLUDING "STRIKE BACK," "HUNTED" AND "BANSHEE"

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1, 2012 - CINEMAX has confirmed its lineup of new and returning original series for upcoming months, including the second season of STRIKE BACK and the debuts of HUNTED and BANSHEE.

Kicking off its ten-episode second season Aug. 17, the hit action drama series STRIKE BACK follows a stealth counterterrorism unit as it spans the globe to stop potential threats, often behind enemy lines. Season one stars Philip Winchester ("Crusoe") and Sullivan Stapleton ("Animal Kingdom") return; Rhashan Stone ("Episodes") and Michelle Lukes ("Alexander") also return. Guest stars include Rhona Mitra ("Underworld: Rise of the Lycans") and Charles Dance (HBO's "Game of Thrones"). A CINEMAX Presentation in association with British Sky Broadcasting Limited; a Left Bank Pictures Production; executive producers, Andy Harries for Left Bank and Huw Kennair-Jones for Sky; series producer, Michael Casey.

From "The X-Files" writer and producer Frank Spotnitz, HUNTED begins its eight-episode first season this October. Melissa George (HBO's "In Treatment") stars as an operative for an elite private intelligence firm who survives an attempt on her life that may have been orchestrated by members of her own team; when she returns to work, she doesn't know who to trust. Other cast members include Adam Raymer ("Hawthorne"), Stephen Dillane (HBO's "Game of Thrones"), Morven Christie ("The Young Victoria") and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje ("Lost"). Produced by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One and HBO/CINEMAX in association with Big Light Productions. Frank Spotnitz, Alison Jackson, Jane Featherstone, Stephen Garrett, Christopher Aird executive produce.

Launching its ten-episode first season in Jan. 2013, the action series BANSHEE stars Antony Starr ("Rush") as an ex-con and master thief who assumes the identity of the sheriff of Banshee, Pa., where he continues his criminal activities, even as he's hunted by the shadowy gangsters he betrayed years earlier. Ivana Milicevic (HBO's "Mind of the Married Man"), Ulrich Thomsen ("The Celebration"), Frankie Faison (HBO's "The Wire"), Rus Blackwell ("Burn Notice"), Ryann Shane ("Blue Bloods") and Ben Cross ("Star Trek") also star. Alan Ball (HBO's "True Blood"), Greg Yaitanes ("Lost"), Peter Macdissi (HBO's "Six Feet Under"), Jonathan Tropper (author of the New York Times bestseller "This Is Where I Leave You") and David Schickler (author of "Sweet and Vicious") executive produce.