Archive for the 'PiratesOfTheCaribbean' Category

Filed under: New Releases, Box Office, Box Office Predictions, Summer Movies

Last week was pretty easy to call; anyone who didn’t think Shrek the Third would reign triumphant must have something against ogres of color. Our winners, each with perfect predictions, were bubba8193 (again!) and Mario. Congrats, guys. Your auras of superiority are in the mail.

1. Shrek the Third - $122 million
2. Spider-Man 3 - $28.5 million
3. 28 Weeks Later - $5.1 million
4. Disturbia - $3.6 million
5. Georgia Rule - $3.4 million

This week? Hmm, tough call. Will Lindsay Lohan’s fans mobilize and launch Georgia Rule to the top of the charts?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
What It’s About: Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is trapped in Davy Jones’ locker at the World’s End, dead (or “dead”) and insane; Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), feeling guilty for abandoning him, leads the rescue brigade; Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) wants to free his father from his debt to Davy Jones; and Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) (who was dead, but is feeling much better) is antsy about the East India Company, which — using Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) as its pawn — is threatening to end the pirates’ way of life forever. The motley crew heads to Singapore, where Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) possesses not just the maps to the World’s End but also the power to convene the Brethren Court of Pirate Lords.
Why It Might Break the Record: Last summer’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest set a box office record with an opening take of $135 million; this summer the title shifted to Spider-Man 3 ($151 million). Seeing as how the blockbusters seem to be setting new records practically every week, why shouldn’t At World’s End be any different? On top of that, this installment, which has all the members of the franchise returning, is something of a finale to the series … even if it isn’t (based on Depp’s recent comments) actually the end.
Why It Might Not Break the Record: At 168 minutes, and with so many plotlines (some would say too many), it’s not for the casual viewer. The length also limits the number of times per day that a theater can show the film; Spider-Man 3, if you’re keeping score, was 139 minutes long. (Cranky old lady rant: Whatever happened to the days when two hours was considered long? Anyone? Anyone?)
Prediction: $168 million

Continue reading Box Office Prediction: Beginning of the ‘End’

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Disney, Theatrical Reviews, Fandom, New in Theaters, Family Films, Johnny Depp, Remakes and Sequels, Summer Movies

About seven hours into Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, someone stuffs a monkey into a cannon, lights the fuse and sends it shooting across the deck to crash into another character. That monkey is like us, the audience — bruised, confused and unsure what it did to deserve this punishment. We have to endure a hurricane of hooey, a hydra-headed story with more subplots and pointless reversals than a Raymond Chandler tale and more doodad MacGuffins — a compass that points to this, a key that unlocks that — than even a parody could endure, all of which leads to a sort of white noise of confusion where a plot should be. Even if that monkey-cannon were pointed at my head, I couldn’t explain to you why, for example, the key pirates from the previous two films are now introduced to us as ‘pirate lords’ — leaders of some kind of pirate’s union, which, judging by Captain Jack (Johnny Depp) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) does not offer dental. It’s their lordship, and what that means for pirates everywhere, that this trilogy capper is supposedly about.

You’ll remember that at the end of the last film, Dead Man’s Chest, Depp’s swishy swashbuckler was betrayed by Keira Knightley’s colonial babe Elizabeth Swann, left manacled to the deck of his ship as it was being eaten by a steroid-squid, in the hopes that a sticky pirate curse would drown with him and his ship. The audience wasn’t fooled — even the most casual moviegoer knew Depp would be returning for part three — but films that include an easy-breezy transition between life and afterlife often find themselves having to paddle twice as hard to get dramatic tension going, which is one of the problems that most plagues At World’s End. After all, if no one can really die, what’s the worst thing that can happen? (One of the reasons I’ve never bothered to read a comic book in my life, by the way) Somewhere around the thirty-minute mark of this one, we’re re-introduced to Captain Jack, who is stuck in some kind of Looney Tunes purgatory, commanding a ship sitting in the middle of a desert, and crewed only by multiple Jack Sparrows.

Continue reading Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End — Ryan’s Review

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, New Releases, Disney, Fandom, Scripts & Screenwriting, New in Theaters, Johnny Depp, Interviews, Remakes and Sequels, Summer Movies

Cinematical recently sent one of our Netscape colleagues, Ryan Budke, to the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End junket in LA on our behalf, where he was able to snag some one-on-one time with the film’s director, Gore Verbinski and, later on in the day, with action-blockbuster maestro Jerry Bruckheimer. Each interview is somewhat short, but taken together they make for a nice read — I found it especially interesting to hear Bruckheimer’s thoughts about the potential continuation of the Top Gun series and his confirmation that someone is indeed hard at work on the continuing adventures of Axel Foley. For Verbinski’s part, he seems to be completely exhausted by the experience of shooting the film and is only dreaming about taking a long, uninterrupted vacation, before rotating back to the movie world. So here are the two interviews, back to back — enjoy!

Gore Verbinski

I’m sure these next two weeks are gonna be …

GV: They’re mad, but they’re nothing compared to actually making the movie.

I guess I should ask you the question you’ve been asked a million times — when will we get to see ‘Pirates 4′?

GV: There are no plans for four. Ted and Terry and I are not spending nights until three in the morning writing and coming up with ideas. That’s certainly what we did once we agreed to do the second and third one. We spent a lot of time just figuring out what story we wanted to tell. It doesn’t mean that somewhere down the road we might not decide to jump in, and we’ve certainly left that option open, but I think everyone needs a little time off. And it really depends on — is there a story worth telling? I don’t think anyone wants to jump back into a ‘here’s your release date and there’s no script.’ I think we have a very talented crew and we’ve done what I think is some pretty amazing work under those circumstances, but they’re not circumstances you want to engage in time after time.

You could always go the Indiana Jones route, and just take fifteen or twenty years off.

GV: See, that sounds good to me. I don’t think it sounds so good to the studio.

So if we’re not gonna get part four next summer, what’s up next for you?

GV: Next summer … insane. I’m looking forward to vacation, actually. This has been such a long time with no light at the end of the tunnel. I made the ring and couldn’t go to the premiere because I was shooting Pirates. Then made The Weatherman, then Pirates, then Pirates3 … so its been about seven or eight years or solid movie after movie. I’m looking forward to not knowing what I’m doing next, not owing somebody a movie, reading some books, reading some scripts … just taking a little bit of time to just live instead of work.

Continue reading Interview: Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, Director and Producer of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Disney, Theatrical Reviews, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels

Note: This review was penned by an unapologetic Pirates of the Caribbean lunatic. (I expected the first movie to STINK, and I ended up adoring the thing. I expected Part 2 to be a tired rehash, and it was anything but.) While that certainly doesn’t mean I walked into the flick INTENT on giving it a good review, the simple truth is that these movies speak directly to the ravenous 12-year-old movie geek who (fortunately) still holds residence inside my soul. The flick is far from perfect, indeed it’s bottom-heavy and swollen to bursting with wriggling plot threads, but damn if I didn’t have a good time tagging along on this third adventure with all my old Pirates pals. Having said that, let’s move on…

Sometimes the big-time franchise makers are damned if they do and damned if they don’t: Churn out a skimpy “Part 3″ that just rehashes what was offered in Parts 1 & 2 and you’ve got something vaguely entertaining but clearly inferior like Shrek the Third. Try too hard to jam too many arbitrary plot threads and flimsy characters into your third entry and you’re stuck with a lurching behemoth like Spider-Man 3. And then you have the middle ground: The sprawling, gorgeous and massive adventure epic Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which while far from a flawless film, aims to stay faithful to its predecessors while still upping the ante (a lot) with a boat-load of new plot developments, characters and surprisingly nifty subtext. Yep, this particular popcorn movie runs almost three full hours, but if producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski had produced a quick-buck 92-minute third chapter, then the complaints would be legion. You can’t win. Except at the box office, obviously.

As it stands: Yes, Pirates 3 has a few more plot-threads than it really needs. And yes, it’s probably a bit longer (168 minutes) than it really needs to be — but the bottom line is this: Once again, the Pirates series delivers the goods. In style and color, in character and adventure, in wit and weirdness … this movie delivers. I’ll make it even simpler: If you enjoyed Part 1 but thought Part 2 was over-plotted, overlong and over-kinetic, then you’ll feel the exact same way about Part 3. As an outspoken and very geeky fan of the first two chapters, however, I was pretty much dazzled by what World’s End has to offer, and I’m not just talking about the action, the effects and the mayhem. And if the flick’s got just a little too much fat on the bones, oh well. A bit too much is always better than not enough, if it’s me you’re asking.

Continue reading Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End — Scott’s Review

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Disney, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels

While there’s no concrete plans (YET) to continue the Pirates of the Caribbean series following the third chapter (At World’s End), you can just bet that Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney are having some big-time think-tank sessions on how to keep this particular cash cow moving along smoothly. And it looks like Johnny Depp would be just fine with it!

Although well-known as a fiercely independent actor who’ll sign on for big or small films based only on his interest in the material, Mr. Depp is clearly enjoying the fact that he (finally, unexpectedly) has a massive franchise of his own. Here’s what he told The Telegraph: “I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have had such a great experience. If I walk away from Jack now, I’ll walk away with some amazing memories. But At World’s End leaves open the possibility of a fourth or fifth movie, which I wouldn’t be opposed to on an actor level because I feel there is a lot more territory to explore with Captain Jack.”

Johnny’s just finishing up Sweeney Todd with Tim Burton, and after that he’ll probably enjoy a nice vacation with his wife and kids, but he’s letting the world (and his producers) know that they shouldn’t bury Jack Sparrow just yet: “I’ve never really felt I’m done with playing the character, so why shouldn’t we try a fourth and a fifth?” Sounds good to me! (Although I seriously hope they keep the same screenwriters on board.)

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Filed under: Action & Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Disney, Scripts & Screenwriting, Family Films, Johnny Depp, Remakes and Sequels

Did you have trouble following the plot of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest? Well, get ready to be more confused by the next installment, which arrives in theaters May 25. Entertainment Weekly has a cover story about the movie in its latest issue, hitting newstands (and my mailbox) today, which includes quotes from stars Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski. All three seem to be in agreement that audiences and critics are going to have just as tough a time with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

Bloom goes so far as to joke that writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio can’t even explain what’s going on in the new movie. Verbinski claims he doesn’t mind if people are confused, though. He says the Pirates movies are made to be watched multiple times in order to be fully clear to the viewer. Of course, he seems to think that having a convoluted story means having a deep and intelligent story, because he goes on to tell the magazine that he doesn’t want to dumb the movies down to where they are “processed cheese”. He wants us to think about Pirates of the Caribbean afterward. Funny, I am one of the few critics who was able to enjoy Dead Man’s Chest, but I never once thought about it afterward. Except maybe to tell someone how cool the Davy Jones character looks.

As for the critics, who universally panned the second movie (I didn’t review it, unfortunately), Depp says they are going to attack At World’s End just as much if not more. He understands the reasons why critics took “a dump” on the previous film, predicts that they’ll “go below the belt” with the new film, and he says it’s all “cool”. The villains from the movies had a bit to say on the subject, too. Geoffrey Rush says that when you’re doing such complex stunts and action sequences, you can’t be thinking of the critics. Bill Nighy adds that the grosses point to the idea that the movies are doing something right, implying that the minority opinions of film reviewers don’t seem to matter. Of course, Nighy will never have to worry about what critics say about him, as he’s one of the most enjoyable actors working today. And Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End will likewise not have to worry about negative reviews, because it will make a bundle regardless — that is, as long as enough people don’t care about being confused again.

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