"Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides"

***Jake*** · 09-11-2009, 06:06 PM

What?

http://chud.com/articles/articles/20...TLE/Page1.html

Quote:

There's a Walt Disney convention happening in Anaheim right now; I didn't go because going to Comic Con is bad enough, it's hard to imagine me retaining my dignity after a number of days of Disney Con. But it turns out actual news is coming from the convention - and then being helpfully emailed to me by Disney marketing!

The first big bit of news: Pirates of the Caribbean 4 has a title, and it's called On Stranger Tides.

Some of you might recognize that title. There's a book by that title, and it's a pirate book. And it's the book that inspired the Monkey Island series of games, and you have to assume Disney legal knows this. So is the new movie based on Tim Powers' 1988 book? Here's the synopsis:

This book follows the exploits of John "Jack Shandy" Chandagnac, who travels to the new world after the death of his puppeteer father to confront his uncle, who apparently has made off with the family inheritance. During the voyage, he gets to know a woman named Beth Hurwood and her father, an Oxford professor. Before they arrive, their ship is waylaid by pirates and, with the help of the professor and his assistant, the captain is killed and Chandagnac is forced to join the pirate crew. The reader discovers a sinister plot being concocted by the professor involving his dead wife, his living daughter and Blackbeard Chandagnac, now known as "Jack Shandy", must put a stop to these plans and save Beth Hurwood.

It's hard to imagine that Pirates 4 could come out of that synopsis, but I haven't read the book, so there could be more.

That writer neglected to mention that the book On Stranger Tides is about pirates going after the fountain of youth, which, I believe, is where Jack Sparrow left off at the end of the third Pirates film (he had that rotating map thing which pointed there). A crazy choice, but maybe Disney is straight-up licensing On Stranger Tides and putting it in the POTC universe?

**elTee** · 09-11-2009, 06:41 PM

Haha that's crazy. Wow.

***Jeff*** · 09-11-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jake

That writer neglected to mention that the book On Stranger Tides is about pirates going after the fountain of youth, which, I believe, is where Jack Sparrow left off at the end of the third Pirates film (he had that rotating map thing which pointed there). A crazy choice, but maybe Disney is straight-up licensing On Stranger Tides and putting it in the POTC universe?

Makes sense, all the rumors I heard after Pirates 3 said that a fourth movie would be about the fountain of youth. I really enjoy these movies so I'll definitely see it, but it's interesting that it sounds like they are doing what you said, putting this book in the PotC universe.

Scummbuddy · 09-11-2009, 07:49 PM

A fellow by the name of IndyTim on the Tim Powers group message board, where Tim visits mentioned the following:
--------

Quote:

I had the good fortune to meet and chat with Mr Powers earlier this
year at a sci-fi convention in England, and he told me then that Disney had
contacted him about optioning the rights to his book for the next Pirates of the
Caribbean movie (as they should seeing as they stole most of his ideas for the
first movie!).

He told me that he had informed Disney he had two conditions before signing his
book over ... 1) that his wife and he would have dinner with Johnny Depp as part
of the deal and 2) that Tim and his wife got to appear in the movie as extras!
Ready for your close-up, Mr Powers?

--------
Why my student film "On Stranger Tides" was released on that message board, and here on Mojo news, his lawyer was quick to put the kabash on it, stating that "They were in talks with Big Movie Makers and that I need to remove the video at once!". ~pseudo-quote

So, when POTC3 ended with Depp on his way for the Fountain of Youth, I figured they already had it in mind to buy Tim's story and incorporate it. I'm just happy to see it happen.

The Tingler · 09-11-2009, 08:05 PM

Well, it saves them having to use their imagination... or continue ripping off the Monkey Island series. People were getting suspicious...

Laserschwert · 09-11-2009, 09:11 PM

From the last page of the "The Art of Pirates of the Caribbean"-book, showing said part of the rotating map:

Scummbuddy · 09-12-2009, 10:14 AM

Another interesting bit from the Tim Powers Group:

Quote:

On stranger tides : written by Tim Powers.

Type of Work: Recorded Document
Document Number: V3552D294
Date of Recordation: 2007-05-14
Entire Copyright Document: V3552 D294 P1-2
Date of Execution: 10Nov06; date of cert.: 7May07
Title: On stranger tides : novel / written by Tim Powers.
Notes: Short form assignment. Schedule IV recorded at request of
sender.
Party 1: Tim Powers.
Party 2: Walt Disney Pictures.

Names: Powers, Tim
Walt Disney Pictures.

TestType · 09-12-2009, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Tingler

Well, it saves them having to use their imagination... or continue ripping off the Monkey Island series. People were getting suspicious...

Well, it doesn't hurt that the novel is a fantastic piece of fantasy fiction mixed with an accurate historical setting. I can promise you that the writing genius of Tim Powers will surpass any hollywood script writer.
And as you must know, the Monkey Island series borrows heavily from this book, as do the PotC movies, something the creators of both have freely admitted. Lechuck from MI and the undead pirate Captain Blackbeard in the book are just about the same character save for a name change to cover it up. You really can't say accuse the PotC movies ripping off MI when MI is such a huge ripoff to begin with.

My only beef with this is that I always hoped that someday On Stranger Tides would be turned into a film, its own original film and not adapted to the PotC series. Very interested to see how this turns out though and it has raised my expectations for this movie quite a bit.

The Tingler · 09-12-2009, 05:15 PM

I know, I've read it a couple of times!

But there's still a lot different from the book and the Monkey Island games, and even the Pirates of the Caribbean films. There's not much humour, for a start.

I'm honestly not sure how they can add Jack Sparrow into the mix.

The Tingler · 09-12-2009, 07:52 PM

Just announced: coming Summer 2013, 2015 and 2017 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Treasure Island, Pirates of the Caribbean: Cutthroat Island and Pirates of the Caribbean: Escape From Monkey Island.

LordTrilobite · 09-13-2009, 05:51 AM

Quite... :P

Scummbuddy · 09-13-2009, 11:55 AM

I am quite happy that Disney is planning a new trilogy, which I've always felt "On Stranger Tides" needed at least 2 movies to tell its story. I also wondered how, if I were directing, how I would make an exciting adventure and convey the story well enough in "my" first movie to get people excited enough to come back for the sequel.

Attaching the POTC name to it will instantly generate more interest than that of a stand-alone "On Stranger Tides" labeled movie.

As for casting and such, I've always seen Jack Sparrows second in command as Jack Shandy from the book, but I doubt he would suddenly be thrust into the main character zone. Plus, I'm sure he already has a name, but I can't be bothered to look it up.

We already know that Mrs. Swan and, uhh, "Guybrush" won't be returning to these movies.

Barbossa seemed a decent candidate for Jack Shandys captain on the boat Shandy is captured on.

I can only assume that Jack Sparrow will be taking over the Jack Shandy role, but it doesn't fit him well.

We'll see in time.

ThunderPeel2001 · 09-13-2009, 08:14 PM

Wow, I'm absolutely astonished that they're paying for the rights for this book up front. That's not very Hollywood/Disney-esque at all... I can't believe it.

Samnmax221 · 09-14-2009, 12:04 AM

Tim you ****ing bastard, how could you? Why don't you just let them have the rights to The Anubis Gates too, oh boy National Treasure 3, and Shia Ladouche must be cast in it too.

TestType · 09-14-2009, 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samnmax221

Tim you ****ing bastard, how could you? Why don't you just let them have the rights to The Anubis Gates too, oh boy National Treasure 3, and Shia Ladouche must be cast in it too.

Haha, now THAT would be truly tragic.

**elTee** · 09-14-2009, 07:23 AM

Can't blame the guy for taking a payday on this one. It sounds like they've been borrowing off him for some time.

Samnmax221 · 09-15-2009, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elTee

Can't blame the guy for taking a payday on this one. It sounds like they've been borrowing off him for some time.

Or he could have sued them, and settled out of court....

SyntheticGerbil · 09-15-2009, 08:13 PM

Disney will kill you.

Samnmax221 · 09-15-2009, 09:12 PM

I have no quarrel with most of their IP (Love a lot of it actually), but POTC got so incredibly retooled to appeal to retards (The movie going public), that I've really started to hate it. National Treasure has never been good, being that it is a ripoff, of a dumbed down ripoff, of Foucault's Pendulum.

***Thrik*** · 09-16-2009, 05:56 AM

The movie-going public are all retards? Oh man, are you an elitist ponce or what?

Or maybe I really am a retard for liking POTC.

Samnmax221 · 09-16-2009, 09:35 AM

Rarely does anything good become popular, shall we compare and contrast say Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to Dane Cook?

**elTee** · 09-16-2009, 10:53 AM

Dude it's a pretty weak generalisation. People need an antidote to some of the more academic-style stuff as well. I enjoy heavy literature as much as the next guy (although not plays and certainly not 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead', although that has more to do with a certain playwright I once knew than anything else) but the fact is, sometimes you need to just enjoy something mindlessly. I have friends who work at the University level, and while one of them actually does spend his free time reading Slavoj Zizek and David Foster-Wallace, he still relies on various non-intellectual pursuits in order to keep his sanity.

The point I'm making is, no-one actually believes that just because something is popular it is also 'good' - it's just a means to an end. Do I think 'Dead Man's Chest' is good? Not really. Do I like it? Hell yes. Do I think Gravity's Rainbow is good? Of course. Would I consider it a solution to a long miserable day at work? Nope.

But we can go back and forth on this all day, so we should probably stick to the topic.

SurplusGamer · 09-16-2009, 11:47 AM

*Cough*beatles*cough*

Actually, to answer this properly, the way I remember is is that nobody really expected PotC to be much good. I seem to remember being pretty disinterested in it (aside from the curiosity of the MI similarities in the trailer) but then hearing good things about it after people started seeing it. I think in those cases they -do- tend to be good a lot of the time.

***Thrik*** · 09-16-2009, 12:37 PM

Yeah if anything I remember the general public and critics alike expected PotC to be yet another pirate film flop, convinced the genre was dead. Then it came along with its 'original' take on the genre and it was largely considered great.

Its two sequels are very hit and miss, but I still enjoyed them a lot.

**elTee** · 09-16-2009, 08:06 PM

I consider myself mostly responsible for the success of the first film

SyntheticGerbil · 09-17-2009, 05:47 PM

Just how many tickets did you buy?!

**Huz** · 09-25-2009, 12:27 PM

Whoa. On Stranger Tides was a huge guilty pleasure for me (as were the other Tim Powers books I subsequently devoured), so this is great - if rather unexpected - news!

I wonder if Disney half-considered adapting On Stranger Tides as a standalone movie to jump on their own pirate bandwagon?

**elTee** · 09-25-2009, 01:52 PM

If the recent reports of Deppo getting cold feet because his boyfriend in the office has left Disney, maybe it will end up being a straigh adaptation - if at all. Depends how much truth is in those stories I suppose.

Although, he's sold out already so all they need to do is dangle enough money in front of him.

***Jake*** · 09-25-2009, 05:54 PM

I dont think Disney will change gears in that dept. If the wheels are already in motion enough that they've announced the film and put out a logo and press materials for the film, it would take a lot for that behemoth to not make it to the bottom. I mean, who knows, but I bet they'll work it out.