Pirates of the Caribbean: Every Change To The POTC 5 Original Plan

Pirates of the Caribbean’s troubled fifth installment Dead Men Tell No Tales lost out on a villainess, Taron Egerton, and Into The Woods’ director

You Are Reading :Pirates of the Caribbean Every Change To The POTC 5 Original Plan

The fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales, was a flop with critics and audiences alike, but could the sequel’s original plan have potentially worked? When The Ring director Gore Verbinski’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl arrived in cinemas in summer 2003, the movie seemed doomed to sink without a trace at the box office.

The 1995 failure Cutthroat Island ensured that Hollywood was reticent about the financial potential of swashbuckling action-adventure movies, while the critical drubbing received by The Haunted Mansion later that same year proved that a big-budget adaptation of a Disneyland ride was far from a surefire success with reviewers. However, despite the odds, The Curse of the Black Pearl proved both a critical and commercial success, immediately spawning a pair of back-to-back sequels in 2006’s Dead Man’s Chest and 2007’s At World’s End. Unlike the first film in the series, the second and third movies proved critically divisive upon release with critics complaining of their complicated backstory and darker tone as among the mistakes in Pirates of the Caribbean sequels.

However, it was not until the third sequel, 2011’s On Stranger Tides, that the critical reception of the series became outright hostile, with reviewers calling the movie the worst Pirates of the Caribbean installment so far upon its release. The fortunes of the franchise waned further with 2017’s oft-delayed Dead Men Tell No Tales, which endured a lengthy and troubled production only to be released to even worse reviews than its predecessor and the lowest box office of the series so far. The series has since been put on hiatus, although Disney has announced plans for both a Margot Robbie-starring reboot and an unrelated sixth film in the original franchise. With massive fan demand for Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow to return in Pirates of the Caribbean 6, it is worth revisiting the long path that the fifth movie in the series took to the screen, and wonder whether the movie’s original plan would have provided the franchise a much-needed hit four years ago.

The Return Of On Stranger Tides Director Rob Marshall

Although On Stranger Tides received significantly worse critical write-ups than its predecessors, the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie did earn an impressive haul at the box office, making more money than all of the franchise’s earlier movies. As a result of this, On Stranger Tides helmer Marshall was offered the chance to return to the director’s chair for Dead Men Tell No Tales. He was not the creator’s first choice, with original Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski being offered the job initially. But when Verbinski opted out Marshall was approached, only for him to also turn the job down in favor of 2014’s Disney musical Into The Woods. Marshall was then replaced by Rupert Sanders of Snow White and the Huntsman fame according to a Deadline shortlist from 2013.

However, Sanders in turn dropped out to instead direct Ghost in the Shell in what was likely not much of a loss for Dead Men Tell No Tales. Much like Marshall’s Into The Woods, Sanders’ adaptation of the popular manga would go on to receive mixed-to-negative reviews criticizing its muddled story and gloomy tone. While On Stranger Tides was disliked by critics, the fourth film did at least feature an appropriately funny, fast-paced tone, something Dead Men Tell No Tales directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg proved they could achieve with their 2006 action comedy Bandidas.

Dead Men Tell No Tales’ Missing Female Villain

Speaking of Bandidas, Blackbeard may have been On Stranger Tides’ main villain, but a late-in-the-game plot twist proved that Sparrow’s apparent love interest Angelica (played by Bandidas’ Penelope Cruz) was secretly working with the dastardly villain. However, the twist occurred too late in the film to have much effect on its story, so it was exciting that the villain of Dead Men Tell No Tales was originally intended to be the first female villain of the series. This formula-shifting potential first for the franchise was featured in Terry Rossio’s draft of the screenplay but, according to the screenwriter, was vetoed by the movie’s star Johnny Depp. Depp intervened to ensure this wasn’t the angle the creators went with as he was worried due to the failure of Dark Shadows, which featured Eva Green as its antagonist. While the Pirates of the Caribbean series still hasn’t featured a female lead villain, the earlier Pirates of the Caribbean’s Calypso proved that the franchise could create memorably threatening and interesting female baddies, meaning Dead Men Tell No Tales could potentially have benefitted from this fresh approach.

Christoph Waltz’s Salazar

Captain Salazar, the main villain of Dead Men Tell No Tales, was a rotting pirate who some fans felt owed too much of a debt to both the zombie pirates of The Curse of the Black Pearl and the franchise’s decaying seaman Davy Jones. However, the character could have been brought to life by a more diminutive, less stereotypically scary figure than imposing Anton Chigurgh actor Javier Bardem. Inglorious Basterds villain Christoph Waltz almost joined the cast as Captain Salazar, but the character was instead played by Javier Bardem when the Skyfall villain wanted to work in the series as his wife Penelope Cruz appeared in the third sequel and said the set had a great atmosphere. However, Bardem’s campy take on the character was divisive, and it’s worth wondering whether Waltz would have been a better fit. As Spectre’s Blofeld, Waltz gave a less over-the-top Bond villain performance than Bardem and perhaps could have made the Pirates of the Caribbean character less zany and quietly threatening too.

Taron Egerton’s Missing Pirates of the Caribbean Character

The series has struggled to find a replacement for the Pirates of the Caribbean heroes Elizabeth Swan and Will Turner since At Worlds End, and the supporting role that went to Brenton Thwaites in Dead Men Tell No Tales went through many prospective actors. The part was originally earmarked for the Kingsman star Taron Egerton, and according to Deadline, Captain Fantastic breakout George MacKay was also considered for the role before Thwaites received it. It is telling that a series as big as the Pirates of the Caribbean movies struggled to find a young actor willing to take on the supporting role, with the long-delayed production process of Dead Men Tell No Tales possibly warding off potential stars. As such, it is no surprise that the upcoming Margot Robbie Pirates of the Caribbean spin-off movie will reboot the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to give the movies a new start, rather than continuing the diminishing returns of the existing series.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/pirates-caribbean-5-original-plan-changes-differences/