Starz today announced it has signed STARZ Original series “Power” Executive Producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson to an exclusive overall deal. Under the two-year exclusive premium television pact with G Unit Film & Television, Inc., Jackson will develop new projects for the network and continue as executive producer on “Power.”

“Starz has been the perfect partner to make 'Power' the success that it is and I am looking forward to developing many more record-breaking series with them,” says Jackson.

“Curtis is a wonderful hands-on producer and actor on ‘Power’ and we look forward to expanding his roles behind-the-camera with Starz over the next two years,” said Carmi Zlotnik, managing director of Starz.

Production on the third season of “Power,” the New York-based drama, began earlier this month at the series’ home base at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn. A 10-episode run has been ordered for season three. Creator, Executive Producer and Showrunner Courtney Kemp Agboh returned to the helm alongside Executive Producers Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Mark Canton, Randall Emmett and Gary Lennon.

“Power” season two averaged more than 6.8 million viewers per episode, tracking favorably to be the most highly watched-season ever for a STARZ Original series.* The “Power” second season finale set a new, STARZ series record for its episode premiere viewership performance (2.39M viewers Live+3) on Saturday, August 15 at 9PM ET/PT, besting the previous week’s record-setting audience (2.29M for episode 209).**

”Power” airs in more than 175 countries/territories worldwide. Starz retains all global distribution and home entertainment rights to the series.

Jackson is represented by APA and attorneys Stephen Savva and Eric Feig.

Born Curtis James Jackson III, Jackson (“50 Cent”) is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor and actor from Queens, New York. He rose to fame with the release of his 2003 album Get Rich or Die Tryin', which has sold more than 8 million copies. The GRAMMY Award® winner has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and has been awarded numerous accolades including: 13 Billboard Music Awards, six World Music Awards, three American Music Awards and four BET Awards, to name a few. He was ranked as the No. 1 rap artist and most successful Hot 100 Artist of the 2000s by Billboard Magazine, as well as that decade's sixth-best artist and fourth top male artist.

Jackson has also carved out a successful and acclaimed career as an actor and producer. He recently starred in "Spy" with Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law and "Southpaw" with Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker and Rachel McAdams, directed by Antoine Fuqua. In 2005, Jackson founded the production company, G-Unit Films and Television, producing a wide variety of content across various platforms.

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® and ENCORE® 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® and ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks' third network MOVIEPLEX®, 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.

*Sources: Linear results: Nielsen NPower P2+ Live+7 (000s). On Demand results: Rentrak On Demand Essentials. STARZ internal estimates. Subject to further qualifications available upon request.

**Source: Nielsen NPower, Live +3 P2+ (000s), August 15 & August 8, 2015