The Plot for ‘Pirates: The Movie’!

[Another Voice]

The first semi-detailed description of the plot to ‘Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean’ has found its way onto the Internet at FilmForce.com ( http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/368/368712p1.html ). Beware that this site should be brought up on charges for criminal misuse of Flash in ads, but it does have a lot of interesting inside articles.

According to the article, the film is due to start filming in October but I have heard that has been delayed. And I’m not sure the plot described in the article is the final, final, final, final story either. This movie has made its rounds through the writing blender: “The script for Pirates was penned by a quartet of writers, with the most recent draft by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (Shrek, The Mask of Zorro, The Road to El Dorado). The pair were [sic] hired to add the supernatural elements to a previous draft by Stuart Beattie. Beattie's version was a brush-up of the first draft by screenwriter Jay Wolpert (The Count of Monte Cristo). Beattie, regarded as an expert on pirates, was brought on to add realism.”

I’m sure it will please all Disney fans to no end that the guys who wrote ‘Shrek’ and ‘El Dorado’ have lent their special magic to Disney’s most popular attraction. This, my fellow readers, is how movies get made.

The “rumors” I’ve been hearing are that Disney is shooting for big-time summer blockbuster money with this one. It’s whispered to be the most expensive movie Disney has ever made (even topping ‘Gangs of New York’) and so everything is being tweaked to insure boffo box office. The summation I heard makes the story center more around the damsel-not-so-in-distress and her studly hero (to capture all the teenage demographics) than the FilmForce article does. The goal, one supposes, is to have a ‘Titanic’ love story for the girls and plenty of explosions for the boys. Hey, it worked for ‘Pearl Harbor’, didn’t it?

P.S. – I’ve also heard that they’re waiting to do more marketing research before deciding if the movie will be released as a Walt Disney Picture or a Touchstone Picture.

 

[toefungus]

Jim Hill just wrote an exellent article about this: http://www.jimhillmedia.com/archives/singles/potcmanmov.htm

It sounds like they want to use Pirates as a test for The Haunted Mansion movie.

 

[daber]

Didn't they learn their lesson from The Country Bears: The movie?

 

[YoHo]

Some people I talk to at other Websites are actually excited in this movie based on the Filmforce leak and the cast.

I'm jaded, cause lets face it, Disney has given me no reason to believe this will be a good movie.

 

[d-r]

WHY does Jim Hill have to call everyone "kids" and write like "what for?" and "Anywho"

Anyway, his account of the plot sure seems different than the other one - "The film – which will reportedly feature a storyline in which modern tourists find themselves battling with bloodthirsty pirates who are out to undo an ancient curse "

The one AV posted earlier seemed like it might turn out cool, but Jim's plot looks really bad.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Anyone else feel like the guy watching the Hindenburg take off while spotting the guy in the cabin lighting up for a smoke? You just know it's gonna end up bad.

I hope I'm proven wrong, but I highly doubt that's the case. You can't make a movie that fits everyone's tastes. IMO Pearl Harbor would have been 10 times better if it was shorter & didn't have that lame, soap opera-ish love triangle, but then again, I think most people think so too. It seemed to work for Saving Private Ryan & I think people are sad that such an epic event in our history is depicted so shabbily on film (at least we have Tora, Tora, Tora!). I'm not saying that there should be no love interest in a war movie, but it doesn't have to hijack the movie either.

 

[Luv2Roam]

No one would have thought CB was going to be good, when told the storyline. We always talk about Disney not "getting it." No wonder. Hollywood seldom "gets it."
Even Signs I thought was Okay. It would have been much better, IMHO, if they had made it more psychological -- was he crazy? Was he really getting a Sign from God? Or was it really Aliens?
But that's just me, I guess.
But for anyone to even consider a CB II! We all knew CB was doomed even before it was released.
Kids under 10 seemed too like it. But generally it's the parents that have to sit through it with their kids too. Disney should have just released CB directly to video.

 

[Another Voice]

Now having read Mr. Hill’s article…

I too had heard about the modern day setting for the story which is why I wasn’t sure if the FilmForce plot was the final, final version. It’s part of the drive to cut the production budget of this movie. But unlike what Mr. Hill has heard, I've heard the budget cuts aren’t being driven by the failure of ‘The Country Bears’; they are part of Disney’s overall budget hacking. At this point I don’t know if they will stay with the historical setting or jump to the modern day version (didn’t Disney already release ‘Captain Ron’?). Disney is walking a very narrow tightrope with Bruckheimer. He is the only “big time” producer that will still work with The Mouse. Eisner knows that (Jerry was given ‘Pirates’ in the first place to keep him happy after the ‘Pearl Harbor’ disaster) and so it will be fun to watch this money dance.

ABC is literally draining all the cash from Disney and all areas are taking hits, not just the parks. At the beginning of the year, the studio reduced its live action movie by over $600 million according to published reports. Given the extremely poor summer Disney has had it’s rumored that further cuts are being made in Film. Every dollar that ‘Signs’ has made was already lost by ‘Bad Company’ – pile pictures like ‘Reign of Fire’ on top of that and you’ve got yourself one bad financial picture. There are whisperings that ‘The Country Bear’ will be in the red over $25 million when its run is finished. The box office and ancillary market revenue won’t even cover the movie’s marketing costs.

There are some other points I’d like to clarify as well from Mr. Hill’s article. It is not uncommon for a big budget script to go through a dozen or so writers. ‘Spiderman’ went through more than 20. Disney and all the major studios signed labor agreements that limit the number of writers that can be credited for a single movie. That’s why you will rarely see a long list of names. Having ‘Pirates’ go through more than four writers isn’t an uncommon thing in Hollywood, it just pulverizes a screenplay down into the same mush that all the others are ground down into.

And Hollywood has already discounted the box office failure of Eddie Murphy’s ‘Pluto Nash’. That movie was finished well over a year ago and has sat on a shelf because every one knew it was a stinker. Since Hollywood has a very short attention span, people have already forgiven Eddie and are back to looking at the grosses from ‘The Nutty Professor’ and ‘Dr. Doolittle’. Last rumor I heard is that ‘Haunted Mansion’ is all set to yuck it up later this year. Of course, things are always subject to change.

But there is one sacred tradition in Hollywood that Mr. Hill didn't mention. When a new management team takes over, there is a ceremonial execution of all the existing projects a studio has in the works at the time. The premise is that the new management doesn’t want to be blamed for all the bad ideas the old régime had in the works. It’s better to start fresh and make brand new mistakes. If Michael is toppled soon, expect projects such as ‘Pirates’ and ‘Mansion’ to be killed if they aren’t already in front of the cameras.

 

[space42]

But there is one sacred tradition in Hollywood that Mr. Hill didn't mention. When a new management team takes over, there is a ceremonial execution of all the existing projects a studio has in the works at the time. The premise is that the new management doesn’t want to be blamed for all the bad ideas the old régime had in the works. It’s better to start fresh and make brand new mistakes. If Michael is toppled soon, expect projects such as ‘Pirates’ and ‘Mansion’ to be killed if they aren’t already in front of the cameras.

ahhhh, help us OB1.. you'r our only hope!

 

[all4fun]

...or whether the whole thing will be scrapped due to new management, but I have it on very good authority that a tall ship has already been commissioned for this film. It's the Lady Washington a replica of a tallship that sailed from 1750-1798. This info comes from my brother, who sailed on the Lady Washington for three+ years and still keeps in touch with many people still working on the ship.

This ship was also featured in the opening scenes of Star Trek:Generations. If you would like to see it, you can visit the website at http://ladywashington.linsect.com/.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

I think Haunted Mansion could be a good movie if it was a more serious film. I'm not saying that it has to be as mega-intense as say, The Sixth Sense, but also not goofy like Casper. Something more along the lines of The Frighteners, but again, not nearly as intense. I think they could do a decent script utilizing the Master Gracey myth(s)...and who knows, maybe WDI might get an urge to finally get the hat box effect down correctly? I think it could be well done like a group of teenagers spend the night in the Mansion (sound familiar?), maybe like a Scream for kids (minus the sex & gore, of course).

But that's just me & my idealistic opinion on what would make for a good movie vs. mediocre synergy on film.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Originally posted by all4fun
I have it on very good authority that a tall ship has already been commissioned for this film. It's the Lady Washington a replica of a tallship that sailed from 1750-1798. This info comes from my brother, who sailed on the Lady Washington for three+ years and still keeps in touch with many people still working on the ship.

Well, hopefully this means that it will be a period film afterall.

 

[Another Voice]

The plot line of the modern day ‘Pirates’ is similar to the period ‘Pirates’. In the cheaper version (present day), the cursed pirates have been roaming around in their ship for a few hundred years; it makes them seemed even more cursed. In any case, the film will still require something that looks like an old sailing ship. The latest rumors are that the setting may still not be settled and the movie is embroiled in a budget battle just like the one that scuttled ‘The Alamo’.

As far as I’ve heard, the plot line to ‘The Haunted Mansion’ does not follow the storyline to ‘The Haunted Mansion’ attraction. The summary reads that Eddie Murphy is forced to spend the night in the Mansion because of his new job, yucks it up with the characters inside, and learns all about the importance of his family. It was described to me ‘The Ghost and Mr. Chicken’ – but not as funny. Another rumor I’ve heard is that Eddie will be doing a lot of improvisation on the set (in other words, trying to come up with jokes that are absent in the screenplay). This will definitely be a child’s movie with either a ‘G’ or ‘PG’ rating (think ‘Dr. Doolittle’).

 

[EUROPA]

The "Modern Day" version of the screenplay sounds familiar....yeah here it is....

Ghost Ship

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808403453

(About the movie)


Here is the trailer....
http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/ghost_ship.html

 

[Jeff in BigD]

Hmm, Ghost Ship seems like a promising film.

 

[SpecialFXKid]

I love the Haunted Mansion dearly, and as such i'm afraid you're all in for a rather large rant.

The problem with the Haunted Mansion movie is that the ride REALLY has no concrete plot. It's a disjointed series of scenes laiden with Disney black humor (but, boy, does that dark ride rock!). All the plots and stories that Cast Members and Internet culture has come up with for the attraction is just that, something created by the fans, not by Disney themselves. Keep in mind that these story and plot outlines for the attraction are more grizly and grotesque then warm and comforting, you can bet that none of it will make it into the final film. If you want to get REALLY technical, even Master Gracey isn't truly the ghost host as he's just a name on a tomb stone according to the Imagineers. (actually, he WAS one of the imagineers )

A movie needs a plot and as Disney feels they must get in all their moral lessons in place, (something that will absolutly ruin a Haunted Mansion film.) the actual Haunted Mansion aspect will probably dwindel down and be eclipsed by the family/moral lesson aspect.

If the Imagineers were as concerned about teaching us the value of family as they were making a dark ride, I doubt that the Haunted Mansion would be as popular (and entertaining) as it has been over the last 30 years.

But I digress, the point is that the ride is a complete succsess, but the movie, in the way that Disney is going about it, will absoutly bomb in the box office, and that's not even counting all the budget cutting that is going on.

In the end, the won't be as good as it could be, and the mansion and the ghosts (which everyone who's been to the mansion will be itching to see) will probably miss the spotlight as Mr.Murphy will be in it, bad jokes and all.

The only good thing that may come of this is that if Eisner is still around when this movie hits theaters, look for the ghost of Paul Frees to come and follow HIM home.....