News Bites: "Pirates 4" is full steam ahead with Director Rob Marshall and Penelope Cruz

- Posted by Rusty


Quick Note: Yikes, it's been over a week and a half since my last update. Sorry about that, everyone—it's been an intensely hectic time at work, and I couldn't find the time to squeeze in a few posts. Well, things have calmed down a bit lately, and while I still can’t update as much as I would like to, I should be able to write new stuff on a semi-regular basis again. Thanks for all your patience!

Source: Heat Vision
(Found via ComingSoon.net)

Talk about interesting developments. I love the idea of a fresh, standalone Pirates of the Caribbean sequel (thereby getting rid of the overcooked mythology from Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End), which sounds like just the direction Disney is taking with its now-officially-greenlit Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (great title, by the way) for next summer. Johnny Depp will return as Captain Jack Sparrow in a search for the Fountain of Youth, and, although there’s still no official word, looks like Geoffrey Rush will as well.

On top of that, for some bizarre, out-of-left-field announcements, we now know the director and co-star for Captain Jack Sparrow as well. [Pirates news and thoughts after the jump]

Taking over the directing reins from Gore Verbinski (who I wish would have stayed to do this as well—in the first one, he showed the perfect approach to this material) is none other than Chicago and Nine helmer Rob Marshall. I’m intrigued by this choice, if not exactly confident; Marshall has a good eye for visuals (even the empty-headed Memoirs of a Geisha was gorgeous to look at) and gets mostly great performances out of his actors. However, it still remains that, after Chicago, he hasn’t made a worthwhile movie, with his latest, Nine, getting trashed by critics for being a glitzy, hollow spectacle. Here’s hoping Pirates 4 will rejuvenate his storytelling abilities; he certainly has the talent, and I’d love to see him stretch himself with a fantasy/adventure setting.

As for Depp’s co-star/potential love interest, Penelope Cruz (a recent Oscar nominee for Marshall's Nine) has just signed on! This I have no objections too. I mentioned in my original Pirates 4 post how awesome it would be for Jack Sparrow to finally get a love interest (and an age-appropriate, equally quirky one if possible). Cruz could do that effortlessly—she’s beautiful, always interesting to watch, and could go toe-to-toe with Depp, as she proved in their last movie together, Blow. Jack Sparrow needs a good sparring partner, someone who could match him in spunk and lovable craziness; the crackling chemistry these two showed before could be a good sign of things to come. I can’t wait to see what the writers have cooked up for them. Plus, it’d be fun to see Cruz ditch the Oscar-bait “serious” roles for a change and tackle something more lighthearted.

All in all, some promising movement on the Pirates of the Caribbean front. If the returning screenwriting duo of Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio (who penned all the Pirates movies so far…and Disney’s Aladdin!) can recapture some of the first movie’s magic, it could go a long way toward rekindling the near-universal love this franchise once had.

Looking forward to hearing more as the movie gets prepped for filming on its way to a Summer 2011 release date. In the meanwhile, what do you guys think of these developments? Do you like the hiring of Cruz and Rob Marshall as director?

Images courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures.
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The Daily Munchies: “Pirates of the Caribbean 4” in 2011!

- Posted by Rusty


(Found via Cinematical and Comingsoon.net)

The first “Pirates of the Caribbean” is my favorite movie, hands down. I used to pick something more “classy” to pose as my favorite, like “Lawrence of Arabia” (which I still love), but there’s just no denying it. I saw it when I was 16, and it was just the best time I ever had at the theater. The characters, the visuals, the laughs, the swordfights, the adventure! It was magic like only the movies could deliver. (It was also the movie that made me want to be an actor—“of course I could do characters like Johnny Depp—it’s easy!”—ah, forgot all about that dream…)

“Pirates” deserved a sequel (and many at that, as long as Johnny Depp was willing to don the mascara and that iconic, boozy walk and accent)…and while I liked watching both of its sequels, I think the filmmakers took the wrong approach with them. After digesting both “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End” (and letting the hype—and my own giddiness—die down a little bit), I can safely saw that there was a good story in there—Davy Jones is a terrific villain, and many details, such as Will’s father, Bootstrap Bill, and the threat of the East India Trading Co., were interesting touches. But, in my view, undertaking such a massive, two-movie-spanning epic was not the right way to go. I love pieces of both films (and the 3rd one comes very close to equaling the 1st for me), but the story became unwieldy, leaving us with the too-much-filler “Dead Man’s Chest” and the cluttered, overlong “At World’s End”—in the end, none of the sequels could match the clever charm of the original.


Plus, I might be alone on this, but I didn’t love the first “Pirates” because of its supernatural angle—I thought the undead pirates were immensely clever—a neat, modern twist to the adventure genre, but it only added to the experience, not defined it. So, it was a bit disheartening to see the sequels embrace that element so much, losing the old-fashioned stunts and suspense (and maybe even some good character moments) to a parade of special effects. I still enjoyed both movies (and I watch the 3rd one almost as often as “Curse of the Black Pearl”), but there is a lot of room for improvement.

With that, I’d still go for another movie—let Disney make a stand-alone sequel—one movie to recapture the magic of the first, and leave the franchise on a high note. Up the swashbuckling, up the high-seas romance and adventure, and let’s just see a simple, inventive story (much like the first one was). Captain Jack Sparrow is a beloved character—I know lots of people had mixed feelings about the sequels (even though they made bucket loads of box-office gold), but I’m pretty sure they’ll turn up to see Johnny Depp take one more crack at quite possibly his best creation.

And why exactly am I rambling about “Pirates”? Well, because, in 2011, another “Pirates” movie is just that we’re getting! Just announced the other day, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is hitting theaters in the summer of 2011. Johnny Depp is officially signed on, (and Geoffrey Rush is expected to return as well), and while plot details are mum, we’ll probably see Sparrow and Barbossa (SPOILER ALERT) try to find the Fountain of Youth, like the last movie suggested.

As for Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, it sounds like they’re sitting this one out, which (MINOR SPOILER ALERT) actually makes sense: their storyline was wrapped up pretty nicely in the end-credits scene of “At World’s End”, and they should only come back if they could be naturally tied in to this new adventure—I’d hate to see them shoehorned in just for recognition value. They’re both good characters, but I doubt there’s any more that can be done with them.

This could be really great—if Disney takes its time, and the writers give us a fresh, exciting story, we might just get the movie I’ve wanted to see since Jack Sparrow dove off the cliffs of Port Royal and asked for “that horizon”. Maybe Jack could finally get a love interest too? How awesome would it be to have Zoe Saldana come back as AnaMaria—those two seemed to have a great spark. Lots of possibilities, and with Depp and Rush front and center, I have very high hopes for this. “Drink up me hearties”…well, you know the rest! Cue that awesome “Pirates” music.


Images courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures
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