PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 4 — what’s the latest?

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 4 — what’s the latest?

Mar 25

A fourth film in the cash cow Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise is, by now, a dead cert. A couple of years ago, Disney bought a 20-year-old pirate story from a very surprised fantasy author pertaining to the Fountain of Youth, with the title On Stranger Tides (which seems to tie in well with the lines at the end of At World’s End regarding Jack Sparrow’s future plans). Now that a rough plot is definitely in place, what other tidbits do we know about the third sequel to the massively successful (and actually very fun) original Curse Of The Black Pearl?

Well, there was a kerfuffle over whether or not Johnny Depp would reprise his role as super-popular Captain Jack Sparrow when Disney chairman Dick Cook was removed from his position, dampening Depp’s enthusiasm for the project. Nevertheless, it’s not like Disney would dare to make a Pirates flick without Depp, and more recent news suggests he’s still on board anyway. Most people would agree that the best thing about the original Pirates, other than the awesome art design, music and visual effects, was Depp’s kooky and amusing performance as the iconic drunken pirate, so Depp’s involvement alone will probably push On Stranger Tides over the $500 million dollar mark at the box office.

Back in November 2009 musical director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Nine) announced that he was locked in to helm On Stranger Tides, replacing series founder Gore Verbinski in the process. In my opinion Verbinski got a little bit too self-indulgent in the franchise’s sequels for his own good, and he somehow managed to lose track of the charm and innovation that made the original swashbuckler so much fun. Then again, Marshall is an unknown quantity in many people’s eyes; Chicago was a commercial and critical hit while Nine flopped in both arenas; but besides that they were both musicals, so it’s hard to tell how a hitherto musical-focused director will handle iron, thunder, cephalopod faces and all that jazz.

Some interesting casting news hit last month, with Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane signing on to appear as “Jack Sparrow’s foil” and Captain Blackbeard, respectively. Cruz’ character has been described as being “equal” to Depp’s “in many ways,” so is she constantly drunk, stumbling and mumbling, but inexplicably good with a sword and a catch-phrase? Then there’s Ian McShane, who is a great and often overlooked character actor that should fit the Pirates universe like a glove. Also returning is Geoffrey Rush as erstwhile baddie Barbossa, but miraculously the newlywed Swans (played by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley) are conspicuously absent from the film, which is probably a good thing: I stopped caring about either of them approximately halfway through Dead Man’s Chest, and it’ll be nice to see a Pirates film move away from the crushingly predictable romantic heroism that was at first so charming, in 2003.

Other than that, most of the news is pretty dry: shooting will take place in Hawaii, beginning in the next couple of months (April – May), and the release date has been announced as the 20th of May, 2011, putting At Stranger Tides right in the middle of the American summer movie blitzkrieg — no surprises there.

On Stranger Tides looks like it might be a potential “reset button” of sorts. It’s only taking the most popular elements (pirates, Johnny Depp) of the franchise and carrying them over into a newer, fresher series, leaving behind a dizzying mess of shallow characters and silly storylines, which can only be a good thing. For these reasons, colour me optimistic about this one. What are your thoughts? Keen to see a Sparrow-centric Pirates movie? Sad to see Orlando Bloom go? As always your thoughts are appreciated.