For such a reclusive, project-orientated movie star, Johnny Depp seems committed to playing his Pirates of the Caribbean alter ego, Captain Jack Sparrow, in as many movies as Disney seems willing to greenlight. As the marketing machine ramps inexorably up in anticipation of the fourth film in the monster franchise, Depp tells Entertainment Weekly that he’d return to the series:
As long as we can put all the puzzle pieces together, I would most definitely consider [a fifth Pirates film].
Not much of a soundbyte, but as Depp’s strained interview on the Disney Channel proves, we’ll hang on every humble word from his pretty head. Despite the underwhelming reviews and performance of his lightweight espionage-romance-caper flick The Tourist, this is still Johnny Depp we’re talking about. He’s been able to successfully mix roles in big studio films with oddball personal projects. For every Pirates flick or Alice In Wonderland, he’s been fairly consistent in making a smaller film like The Libertine.
Once the EW story broke, Deadline reported that Disney has closed a deal with A-list screenwriter Terry Rossio to write the fifth film in the series. Interestingly enough, this would be his first project without long-time writing partener Ted Elliot. Rossio and Elliot have a long string of crowd-pleasing hits to their credit – all four Pirates films, both Zorro films starring Antonio Banderas, as well as National Treasure, Shrek and Aladdin. (On a totally unrelated side note, Ted Elliot co-publishes the screenwriting blog The Artful Writer with Craig Mazin. Check it out for a sometimes harsh, sometimes hair-rising glimpse into pro screenwriting world.)
Whether or not another Pirates of the Caribbean movie is a good idea is irrelevant – like any other cash-cow, no studio head in their right minds would let it die out. Do you think Warner Bros. will stop making Batman movies when Christopher Nolan leaves the Bat-world? Not a chance.
Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End were bloated, over-done, fitfully entertaining and mostly-boring. On Stranger Tides has a new director, new characters and – most important of all – appears blessedly free of Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom. Their romantic entanglements were the least interesting part of the other movies. Can the addition of the great Ian McShane as Blackbeard and Penelope Cruz as Jack’s new love interest bring back the fun of the original? Well, we’ll see, won’t we?
Would you see a fifth Pirates movie? Will you see the fourth one? Did you like any of them?
[via /Film]