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Return to Interview page Total Film April 2006 Bounty Hunter Pirates of the Caribbean was 2003's year-saving sleeper smash. Now, with Hollywood in need of big hits, Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski are back with Dead Man's Chest...Can Captain Jack do it again? Mel Gibson makes his way purposefully on to the stage. Stands solemnly, allows the applause to die down. Clears his throat and pauses. Everyone waits for the surely imminent weighty monologue about his challenging new project, Apocalypto. "So," he grins, "Who wants to hear some dick jokes? I've got plenty...." The gathered audience at the Kodak Theater, venue for the Oscars and sundry other Hollywood soirees, cracks up. Even the target of Gibson's below-the-belt jibe - Disney chairman Dick Cook - musters a smile. Then again, Cook has plenty to grin about. With something of an industry reputation for being a showman, he has organised today's starry affair to unveil Disney's roster of films over the next year or so, and the cast list is mighty impressive indeed. As well as Gibson, we've already been treated to turns by Jodie Foster (shy) and Zach Braff (friendly). Pre-lunch, Elton John (loud) provided an impromptu performance of some of his greatest hits, while Narnia director Andrew Adamson and Pixar chief Steve Jobs have also popped along for a chinwag. By the mid-afternoon coffee break, after more musical interludes, a smattering of U.S. sporting legends, some never-before-seen 3-D technology, a ton of new footage from films not out for ages, plus a confidence-oozing display from Jerry Bruckheimer, the question on everyone's lips is quite how Cook is going to top all the brouhaha and end his show. Buzz Lightyear driving Herbie? Santa Claus, riding Aslan? Even better. It's a pissed-up pirate. Johnny Depp, in full Captain Jack regalia, flounces on to the stage, flailing about wildly, and brings the house down as he refuses to let Cook finish a sentence without interjecting the same, slurry mantra: "Rrrru-ummmm?" Coupled with some archly-timed staggering and lascivious, wild-eyed drooling at every woman in the front three rows, it's safe to say that - in spite of the A-listers that have come before - it's Jack who steals the show. In much the same way, you could suggest, as he stole the whole damn summer, back in 2003... It's easy to forget that when Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was first greenlit, it didn't exactly generate enthusiastic buzz. A movie based on a Disney theme park ride? (Anyone remember The Country Bears?) The sneers were barely concealed. Fortunately, being produced by Bruckheimer helped. As did the ascending stars of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Add in a consistently smart and funny script from Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio plus assured direction from Gore Verbinski and the picture began to look rather rosier. Especially when the trailers aired and we all glimpsed Depp as the irrepressible Jack Sparrow, "A mixture of Keith Richards and Pepe Le Pew," as the actor observed at the time. Cynicism turned to positive word-of-mouth, enormous box office followed, Depp earned an Oscar nomination and one of the biggest sleeper hits of all time went on to become one of the world's most popular DVDs. Even three years later, the money's still coming in. "$1.2 billion and counting," notes Cook, with a grin that really couldn't get much wider. Hence Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the first of the two back-to-back sequels, currently heading for a rendezvous with a major opening weekend on 6 July. This time around, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann (Bloom and Knightley) are planning their impending nuptials, only to be interrupted by the return of Turner's father 'Bootstrap' Bill (Stellan Skarsgard), who - you may remember - was dumped in the drink in the wake of a mutiny aboard the Black Pearl of Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). Meanwhile, Jack Sparrow has to contend with lockerboy Davey Jones (Bill Nighy), to whom he owes a debt that, if not repaid, will doom him to eternal damnation. In other words, bar an Albert Square Christmas Special, an upcoming wedding day couldn't get more potentially explosive. Even for Bruckheimer, instigator of such epic fare as Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and King Arthur, the Pirates sequels are a big project. The uber-producer is at the Kodak to chat about a number of different projects he's got in the works with Disney. But none are more eagerly anticipated than the continuing adventures of Jack and co. "This is a real challenge," the producer admits in his surprisingly soft voice. "As big as anything I've done. Not only due to the size of the movies but because of the level of success and, therefore, expectation created." Fortunately, the footage he's seen to date isn't giving him sleepless nights. "I'm pretty confident," he admits. "Certainly, based on what I've seen so far, it looks funny and emotional and it takes the characters further, to another place - which we always wanted to do. We spent an enormous amount of time working on the screenplays to make sure they were inventive and worthwhile." Bruckheimer also insists, despite suggestions to the contrary, that both sequels were always going to be shot back-to-back. "It was always planned as a package, 2 and 3. For a number of reasons. Economically, it helps with the location shooting. But really, more than money, it was about ensuring we could get all the creative elements together - writers, directors, cast. There's a lot of people and getting all of their schedules aligned is hard. If we'd set out just to do part two, it could have been three or four years before we could get everyone back together for a third film." Up the 101 Hollywood Freeway North, a cab ride away from the Kodak Theater, some of the aforementioned 'creative elements' are hard at work. Portions of both sequels are being shot at Universal Studios and among the sets is the deck of the Flying Dutchman, the ship captained by Davey Jones in Dead Man's Chest. Creaky-looking and barnacle-strewn, with rusty cannons and mould everywhere, it's sprawling and intimidating - the haunted homestead of a distinctly disturbed mind. "Davey's a very upset guy," says Nighy by way of explanation. "He's so wounded from love that he literally tore his heart out and stuck it in a locker deep in the sea so he never had to feel again." The theory here is that the longer Jones' crew serve on his ship, the more they become "of the sea," leading to a variety of mutant seamen with eels, serpents and shark heads sprouting out of their bodies. Jones himself has a 'crab leg.' You know, like a peg leg, but with more, well, crab. In fact, it seems that creatures of the deep are a regular hazard in the sequels. "The other day I was dragged across the deck by an invisible giant squid," confirms Knightley. "Well, obviously it's not going to be invisible; it's being put in by CGI afterwards. So I just spent the entire time pretending that there were tenacles everywhere, and Gore was running around going, "I'm a tenacle, I'm a tenacle!" It takes a little bit of imagination. Hopefully it'll be cool, but really I have no idea what it's going to look like!" Not that she has any doubts about the reasons behind Pirate's original success. "I think Johnny's performance as Captain Jack absolutely is a factor," she gushes. "And it wasn't written like that. It was written completely straight, so that character is entirely his and Gore's. They totally came up with that and none of us knew if it would work when we were doing it, because it was so off-the-wall and so not what was on the page. It's daring but I think you've got to take risks. There's no point playing it safe, because either you'll get bored or the audience will get bored." Not so the suits, who according to Depp were more than a little unsettled by early glimpses of his screwball creation. "Some were fine with what I was doing," he says. "But there were a few who were very worried. You know, like, 'He's ruining the movie! Why is he acting like that? What's he doing with his hand? Is the character a complete homosexual?' There was a lot of that going on to begin with. And I understood their worries, but I felt so in tune with this character and so confident that what I was doing was right. You know, I had a good feeling about Pirates before we even began. I remember sitting in a meeting with Dick Cook and he said, 'What kind of stuff are you looking to do?' I said, 'I'd kind of like to do some kiddie stuff, something a bit more accessible for my own kids.' He said, 'We're thinking of doing this thing, Pirates of the Caribbean.' And I just said, 'I'm in.' I can't explain why, I just knew it would work out fine." Fine is an understatement. When Pirates surpassed $100 million at the box office, then $300 million, then $600 million, Depp was inundated by congratulatory phone calls from the same folks who had initially questioned his performance. ("Deeply satisfying," he admits.) And those studio execs will be hoping Jack can strike gold again in 2006. Even with Sith, Potter, Narnia and Kong pulling in big numbers, Stateside takings in 2005 were down over five percent from 2004 - the biggest drop in one year since 1985. And that's even factoring in higher ticket prices. Actual attendances were also down over seven percent - representing around 100 million fewer tickets sold and the lowest attendances since 1997. In 2004, 24 films topped $100 million. In 2005, only 17. And 2006? Well, there are only a few obvious bankers: Superman Returns, Mission: Impossible 3; The Da Vinci Code and Wolverine's continuing escapades. (Although it's worth noting that in 2003, Pirates outperformed X2 by no less than $250 million worldwide.) So can Captain Jack save summer second time out? Certainly there's much at stake. "You couldn't have more pressure," admits Verbinski. "I can't imagine any situation where you'd make a film with any more riding on it." Several months after our trip around L.A., Verbinski's in the Bahamas, exhausted from night shoots and still facing months of graft to complete the third Pirates installment. "The first time out, nobody believed in us," says Verbinski. "We were just this movie that got its title from a ride at Disneyland. And that's a beautiful place to be. You'd always rather be in the underdog's seat. Now you have the board of directors counting on you. It's a completely different world." Not that the director is going out of his way to impress the suits. "You can't bring that expectation to work every day because it's a lot to wear. And anyway, I think if you tried to make a movie that fulfilled those obligations you'd fail. You have to go in and make something that's dangerous, that's on the edge, that might not work. Especially working with Johnny. We only feel like we're doing our job if we're making executives nervous. If they were showing up on set going, 'Oh, it's fantastic, we love it;' we'd have to go back to our trailers and do something different! If you're not doing anything fresh, why would anyone come to see your movie?" In order to keep it fresh, Verbinski spent months of "4 am discussions with plenty of coffee" working with Elliott and Rossio on the scripts. "Backward engineering," Verbinski calls it. The idea being that the films will work as a complete trilogy. "Yeah, one day you'll be able to get all three films on DVD, revisit the first and go, 'Ah, right, that's when that character found that out...' It's a lot of work but it's also a lot of fun. With Pirates, we've constructed the films so we don't hit day 200 on the set and want to slit our wrists." It's the spectacle - mixed with scruffy wit and dog-eared charm - that made the first film such a success. And, despite his obvious affection towards Depp and the character of Jack, Verbinski is clear on where the focus of 2 and 3 needs to be. "I think Jack is the character Johnny Depp was born to play. It's just a great meal - something you want to have more of. But we are both very aware of the fact that Captain Jack isn't the whole story in the first movie. He perverts the story and makes his way through other people's agendas. If you just made the Captain Jack movie, it would be too much of a good thing and we're constantly aware of that. We know not to piss it away. We know how far we can go without spoiling it." Audiences will be able to see for themselves shortly enough. Like the year's other blockbusters, Pirates needs to perform if 2006 is to improve on 2005's disappointing figures. Although, ask Verbinski which of summer's other films might challenge Pirates and he refuses to play ball. "No, I don't think of it like that. We're the underdog, I think we're the one that's bent. We're the shaggy dog. We're always going to be smellier and I think that's exactly where we want to be." He pauses. "Actually, what's your coverline for this piece? 'Jack's Back to Steal the Summer?'" "Well, thanks for that, Total Film. Thanks a bunch. That's no pressure at all..."