Pirates Cutting Corners

When Rob Marshall shepherds his cast on the latest pirates of the Caribbean installment; he will do so with a budget cut by a third in comparison to the Gore Verbinski had for the last installment, due to the scaling down that Disney chairman Rich Ross is putting in place.

The LA Times blames the an increase the cost of making movies and its ‘stunning’ effects over the money that a movie can generate at the box office and dvd sales.. [Cynically we await the announcement that Stranger Tides will under take the cheaper post production 3D convert that will see ticket prices hiked]  

However, this may just be a blessing in disguise for the project. After all, the sequels to the enjoyable original have felt over bloated with countless plot lines and special effects. So if the scale down means that screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio have to sharpen up there script in terms of characterization over spectacle we may find ourselves with a better Pirates films than we otherwise envisaged.  

MATT RICHARDSON

Pirates Of The Caribbean Update: Cruz Is Blackbeard's Daughter

It was announced back in February that Penelope Cruz was set to star opposite Johnny Depp in the aptly titled ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.’ Undeniably, the association with the aforementioned stars does not conjure an image synonymous with Hollywood franchise fare. Yet, it is on these tides that they will meet, with Cruz as the daughter of Captain Jack’s nemesis Blackbeard.

Speaking at ShoWest to MTV Executive Producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that Cruz “brings a lot of humour to it. And the fact that she’s so feisty,’ continuing to say that romance between Cruz and Captain Jack Sparrow is on the cards.

Ian McShane, is set to lend his villainous charm to the role of Blackbeard, who as Bruckheimer states “is the nastiest pirate of them all”. Of course, McShane is no stranger to the dark-side edge of his latest productions, with his characters such as Al Swearengen from HBO’s ‘Deadwood’ and Tai Lung in ‘Kung Fu Panda’ proving his worth. Bruckheimer also confirmed the return of the brilliant Geoffrey Rush, who reprises his role as Captain Barbosa from the first three Pirate’s outings. 

With the casting of Rush, McShane and Depp the script should endeavour to deliver tantalising interplay between all three characters which was a strong feature of previous outings, if a times to fleeting in the grand scale adventures. 

Filming is due to start in Hawaii beginning in June. New actor’s are still in the process of being cast, with Kiera Knightley and Orlando Bloom not returning.The storyline will pick up immediately from the end of At Worlds End, with Captain Jack setting course for the Fountain of Youth.

MATT RICHARDSON