Walt Disney Pictures decided to swap Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales – the fifth installment in the theme park ride-based movie franchise headlined by Johnny Depp as the slippery scallywag Jack Sparrow – out from the Summer 2015 lineup this week (right after the studio repositioned Marvel’s Ant-Man to takes its place), rather than rush the swashbuckling blockbuster down the assembly line as fast as conceivably possible.
The Dead Men Tell No Tales script is still being written by Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour 2 & 3), who took over from Pirates 1-4 co-writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio for the fifth installment. Directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) are sure to be changing, altering and/or deleting various elements from Nathanson’s original screen story with each subsequent script draft that he finishes hereon out; nonetheless, we have some rumored plot and character details to offer today, as a sneak peek at what the final product may (roughly) end up looking like.
Be warned: some of these could be considered potential MILD SPOILERS for Dead Men Tell No Tales, so take that into consideration before you read on…
Bleeding Cool has assembled together various tidbits of information and behind-the-scenes details on the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, in order to produce an incomplete yet useful picture of what’s in store for Jack Sparrow this time around. We’ve outlined the plot and character deets below in bullet-point form (for you convenience):
(Captain?) Jack Sparrow will have a new female counterpart, who is “suspected of witchcraft, she’s actually a woman of science.” The sexual tension between them is described as being “one-sided.” (Sidenote: this is disappointing news for fans who’re hoping that Penelope Cruz would reprise as Angelica from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.)
There are, in fact, real witches in Nathanson’s script and they are essential to the narrative; albeit, the spell-casters are said to have “somewhat less of a hoodoo flavouring” (so probably no Tia Dalma appearance, especially after what happened in At World’s End).
One of the main characters will be the ghost of a British military recruit, who goes on a revenge mission with the still-living Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). This subplot is where the movie got its subtitle from.
No Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) or Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley); instead, the stock young pretty couple this time will be “from farming families” (note: these characters are somewhat extraneous to the plot and could wind up being dropped from the script).
The film will open with a “rather awkward wedding” (Does Jack get cold feet? Or is he a literal wedding crasher?)
Part of the main storyline incorporates elements from the Bermuda Triangle myth.
All in all, it sounds as though Nathanson’s screenplay will follow the same format as Elliott and Rossio’s scripts for the previous Pirates installments: multiple story threads, whimsical supernatural elements, a swooning romance subplot and Jack Sparrow at the center of the ensuing chaos. Not that anyone was (realistically) expecting there to be some major changes made to the formula at this stage, but here is to hoping that the Pirates 5 script’s execution is more inspired than that for the previous movie, On Stranger Tides, in particular (the same goes for Rønning and Sandberg’s efforts compared to Rob Marshall’s listless direction on the fourth installment).
Now, the only thing I'm thinking is, why do they need a new female role, when they have an amazing, strong, witty Spanish woman, with potential, waiting on an island with jacks voodoo doll for her revenge? I really hope they rewrite the new female role, it will ruin the movie. I'm really hoping these are just rumors.
The Dead Men Tell No Tales script is still being written by Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour 2 & 3), who took over from Pirates 1-4 co-writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio for the fifth installment. Directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) are sure to be changing, altering and/or deleting various elements from Nathanson’s original screen story with each subsequent script draft that he finishes hereon out; nonetheless, we have some rumored plot and character details to offer today, as a sneak peek at what the final product may (roughly) end up looking like.
Be warned: some of these could be considered potential MILD SPOILERS for Dead Men Tell No Tales, so take that into consideration before you read on…
Bleeding Cool has assembled together various tidbits of information and behind-the-scenes details on the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, in order to produce an incomplete yet useful picture of what’s in store for Jack Sparrow this time around. We’ve outlined the plot and character deets below in bullet-point form (for you convenience):
(Captain?) Jack Sparrow will have a new female counterpart, who is “suspected of witchcraft, she’s actually a woman of science.” The sexual tension between them is described as being “one-sided.” (Sidenote: this is disappointing news for fans who’re hoping that Penelope Cruz would reprise as Angelica from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.)
There are, in fact, real witches in Nathanson’s script and they are essential to the narrative; albeit, the spell-casters are said to have “somewhat less of a hoodoo flavouring” (so probably no Tia Dalma appearance, especially after what happened in At World’s End).
One of the main characters will be the ghost of a British military recruit, who goes on a revenge mission with the still-living Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). This subplot is where the movie got its subtitle from.
No Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) or Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightley); instead, the stock young pretty couple this time will be “from farming families” (note: these characters are somewhat extraneous to the plot and could wind up being dropped from the script).
The film will open with a “rather awkward wedding” (Does Jack get cold feet? Or is he a literal wedding crasher?)
Part of the main storyline incorporates elements from the Bermuda Triangle myth.
All in all, it sounds as though Nathanson’s screenplay will follow the same format as Elliott and Rossio’s scripts for the previous Pirates installments: multiple story threads, whimsical supernatural elements, a swooning romance subplot and Jack Sparrow at the center of the ensuing chaos. Not that anyone was (realistically) expecting there to be some major changes made to the formula at this stage, but here is to hoping that the Pirates 5 script’s execution is more inspired than that for the previous movie, On Stranger Tides, in particular (the same goes for Rønning and Sandberg’s efforts compared to Rob Marshall’s listless direction on the fourth installment).
Now, the only thing I'm thinking is, why do they need a new female role, when they have an amazing, strong, witty Spanish woman, with potential, waiting on an island with jacks voodoo doll for her revenge? I really hope they rewrite the new female role, it will ruin the movie. I'm really hoping these are just rumors.
Johnny Depp was almost fired from the Pirates Of The Caribbean movie because Disney executives didn't understand his interpretation of Captain Jack Sparrow.
The Alice in Wonderland star reveals studio bosses were confused by his oddball swashbuckling character, which was partly inspired by rocker Keith Richards.
He says, "They couldn't understand what I was doing... Disney wanted to fire me... They were actually contemplating subtitling the film."
Depp would have happily walked the plank on his movie deal - but he made it clear he would expect compensation for the time he spent preparing for the character and filming.
He explains, "I was probably as close to getting fired as anyone could be. I spoke to one of the execs at the time and said, 'You're right, you should fire me - but you'll have to pay me for my time.'"
The film series went on to be very successful at the box office and has spawned five films - the latest sets sail in 2015.
The Alice in Wonderland star reveals studio bosses were confused by his oddball swashbuckling character, which was partly inspired by rocker Keith Richards.
He says, "They couldn't understand what I was doing... Disney wanted to fire me... They were actually contemplating subtitling the film."
Depp would have happily walked the plank on his movie deal - but he made it clear he would expect compensation for the time he spent preparing for the character and filming.
He explains, "I was probably as close to getting fired as anyone could be. I spoke to one of the execs at the time and said, 'You're right, you should fire me - but you'll have to pay me for my time.'"
The film series went on to be very successful at the box office and has spawned five films - the latest sets sail in 2015.