Back in November, mega Disney producer
Jerry Bruckheimer claimed that a
Pirates of the Caribbean 4 was being geared up for a 2012 release and that
Johnny Depp and
Geoffrey Rush had both already signed on for a fourth roll of the swashbuckling dice. Franchise director
Gore Verbinski however had not made any such deal,
deciding to make the epic Bioshock at Universal instead of returning for another paycheck gig. But two significant things have happened over the summer which has changed the situation somewhat... 1) Gore Verbinski's
Bioshock hit major
Halo-like trouble at Universal and has been put on indefinitve hold, so he's now more likely to return if Disney show him the money. 2) Disney are pushing real hard for the fourth movie to shoot quickly. They don't wanna waste anytime with it. Both factors I dare say, have led to this confident, bold announcement from Disneys Head of Production
Oren Aviv at the San Diego Comic Con...Were going to shoot Pirates 4 in April and May of next year, Aviv said. We are going to release it hopefully in 2011.
Aviv is hoping the 4th movie will be the catalyst of a new
"trilogy" (surprise, surprise) and, according to his quotes,
"I want to kind of reboot the whole thing and bring it down to its core, its essence, just characters." Which is a very sensible plan after how big and silly
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End got. But isn't it a good idea to come up with an actual story and a plan for a "trilogy", before you come out and say that's the direction you are taking with the series? And as much as I like Barbosa and Jack Sparrow... do we need another seven or eight hours worth of them, really?