Pirates of the Caribbean 4

The biggest announcement at Disney Pictures' D23 Expo this year has been a title.

On Friday afternoon the company announced that the fourth "Pirates" film will be called "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and is officially set for a Summer 2011 release.

It didn't take long for several people to uncover that a Tim Powers' novel called "On Stranger Tides" which deals with a pirate named Jack Shandy in a race against the legendary pirate Blackbeard and his crew of both living and undead to reach the Fountain of Youth.

The Fountain of Youth was hinted at in the final sequence of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" which makes the connection between this book and the next film quite distinct.

Powers novel includes elements such as cutlass-fights, sea-battles, voodoo magic, a love interest imprisoned and even puppeteering.

Hollywood was shocked Friday afternoon by the sudden dismissal/resignation (take your pick) of Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook, but no one may have taken it harder than Johnny Depp.

Speaking to The Los Angeles Times late at night in London, Depp said Cook's departure had created "a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment" for the project.

Depp, who recently appeared at the first official Disney convention, D23 Expo, to support both his role as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" and the new "Pirates" movie, credited Cook with standing by his interpretation of the character Captain Jack Sparrow when others at the studio were questioning his un-Disney like direction.

Depp told the Times, "He's instantly trustworthy. And you generally don't meet people at the studios you trust. He's a rare beast."

The actor also said he currently has a potential deal in place for "Pirates 4" and whether he moves forward or not will depend on how good the script is, but was presently "shocked and sad" over the day's events.

A lifelong employee at Disney, Cook began his career with the company in 1971 when he started as a monorail operator. By 2002, then CEO Michael Eisner made him chairman of the studio, one of the most senior positions in the company. Unfortunately, the studio side of the operation -- his responsibility -- lost $12 million in the third quarter due to financial disappointments such as "Bedtime Stories" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic." Current CEO Bob Iger blamed the losses on the quality of the overall slate in a conference call with Wall Street investors, but no one in the industry truly believed Cook could loose his job. Clearly, having hits such as "The Proposal" and "Up" over the summer didn't restore Iger's confidence in the well liked studio chief.

Who will take over Cook's position as studio chairman now and convince stars like Depp to stay in the fold is the $100 million dollar question that will have the town buzzing over the weekend. Will Pixar head and Disney Animation Chief John Lassiter take the top spot? Could Kevin Feige, president of production at newly acquired Marvel Studios, really ascend to a position of that stature so quickly? Could Stacey Snider somehow get out of her DreamWorks deal to run the studio? Or will it be an unknown who will have an even harder time proving himself to the likes of Jerry Bruckheimer, Richard Zemeckis and Burton? All are major players with projects or longtime deals at the studio who will be wary of someone without a strong track record.

Needless to say, Cook's replacement and possibly Iger, will have a call to Depp on the top of their list of things to do.

quote:

Op zaterdag 19 september 2009 10:03 schreef Komakie het volgende:
Hmm vaag verhaal.
Vervelende situatie in ieder geval maar Depp zal het uiteindelijk toch wel doen. Hoewel het een man met principes is en minder van geld (heb ik het idee. En het is ook makkelijk als je zoveel voor een film kunt vragen als hij)

Inderdaad, dus moeten ze effe een belletje plegen naar Depp...

With Dick Cook's shock departure on Friday after seven years as chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, the lingering aftershocks have yet to really have an impact though rumors have been running rampant even as the juicy details have yet to really emerge.

The news broke on Friday afternoon and was quickly followed by official statements from both Cook and Disney President and CEO Bob Iger which essentially said nothing beyond PR-approved empty platitudes.

Earlier this year it was reported that Iger blamed Disney's film division, specifically it's live-action efforts, for the company's severe drop in operating income due to less than expected returns on Disney's disappointing Holiday 2008/Early 2009 film line-up. That line-up included such low-to-moderate performing titles as "Bedtime Stories," "Race to Witch Mountain," "Confessions of a Shopaholic," "Earth" and the Jonas Brothers 3D concert movie. The studio has had success since with "Up," "The Proposal" and the "Hannah Montana" movie all doing well above expectations.

The loss of Cook however, generally considered of the most popular executives in the industry and a veteran with nearly four decades of experience at the studio, has not played well. In fact speculation has quickly begun to spread that many of the studio's upcoming projects and promising relationships are now on questionable, if not outright shaky ground.

For example is an LA Times interview with Johnny Depp about Cook's departure. Depp says his enthusiasm to be a part of a fourth "Pirates" movie has waned with the news of Cook's exit. "There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment" says Depp who claims one of the big reasons he committed to the film was Cook's involvement.

Cook himself was one of the key reasons why Depp's Jack Sparrow performance in the first 'Pirates' remained intact as many in the studio expected a more toned down and atypical pirate-like interpretation. Cook is also allegedly one of the big reasons behind Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider's Dreamworks/Disney deal and so Iger will likely fill Cook's now empty position with someone who'll try to keep the Dreamworks relationship strong.