Disney
Similar to another form of entertainment — a four-letter word that, like Pirates of the Caribbean, also begins with a P and and with an N — movie magic is something you can’t define, but you know it when you see it. And when it comes to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the film absolutely has that intangible, elusive element of movie magic too.
The Pirate genre is a complicated one in Hollywood. How do we know this? Because it’s rarely been done successfully both before and since the original Pirates of the Caribbean film, which was released in 2003.
Capturing the same supernatural, globe-trotting spirit of adventure that the Indiana Jones films had, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, is nothing short of blockbuster entertainment mastery, as it seamlessly blends adventure, drama, comedy, action, and romance, all while building a compelling world of lore around it.
No scene better epitomizes the brilliance of The Curse of the Black Pearl, which is an introduction that’s so eloquently constructed it should be taught in college screenwriting classes.
Speaking to filmmaker Gore Verbinski, who directed the first three Pirates movies, ahead of his new film Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, we asked the Black Pearl mastermind about shooting Captain Jack Sparrow’s iconic introduction to the world, and when he realized he had something special on his hands.
Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski on the introduction of Captain Jack Sparrow and when he knew the film was going to be special
ERIC ITALIANO, BROBIBLE: When you think about that iconic scene, how do you think it set the stage for that character becoming iconic? And what do you recall about shooting it?
GORE VERBINSKI: It was important to sense the music is in his head. In his mind, he’s the greatest pirate that ever lived — it’s his proudest moment. The way he steps off the boat as it submerges right up to the dock. Everything about that sequence — saluting his comrades — is about the delusion “Yes, I’m the worst pirate… but you’ve heard of me.” He’s his own myth.
BROBIBLE: When you think back — first time you saw the sets, or Johnny in costume, or the premiere — when did you sense you were tapping into movie magic? To me, that’s the closest we’ve come to Indiana Jones in my lifetime. At what stage did you realize that?
GORE VERBINSKI: I like it when the wheels are about to fall off. If you’re not mischievous, you’re blind to the absurdity of life. I never felt complacent or like we “got this.” That genre hadn’t worked in a long time. Everybody was nervous.
I remember asking Hans Zimmer to do the music and he said, “Why are you doing a pirate movie? That’s the stupidest idea ever.” Until he saw the movie, and then he said, “I have to write the music for this.” That feeling that you’re getting away with something underpins it — as opposed to “I’m achieving something.”
First, with the script — talking to [the writers] what are we talking about? Do we have a map tattooed on somebody? Is there treasure? A kidnapping? And they were like, “It’s all of that, but it all happened before. It’s about putting the treasure back.” And I was like, “Okay, I like that.”
Then there was Jack — coming out of Johnny Depp’s trailer as Sparrow. I’m like, “Okay, that feels good.” Then storyboards, early pencil sketches of the sinking ship — “How do we tell this thing?” Then putting it together and doing the first preview: teenage boys saying, “Why do the girls like him? He’s a…” And I’m like, “Okay, that’s not for you. It’s okay.”
And they’re like, “What are we going to do about that?” I’m like, “We’re not going to do anything about that. That’s the stupidest note ever. He’s Jack Sparrow.” Studio notes, everybody worried — all that stuff.
It’s harder on the second one when they’re not worried. When studios think there’s a cocktail you want to repeat, you’re trying to get back to that feeling of: no, we need to get to the place where we don’t know if this is going to work.
Verbinski’s new movie Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, the first project from Pirates of the Caribbean director in a decade, stars Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, Tom Taylor, and Juno Temple, and will be released in movie theaters on Friday, February 13.
You can check out our interview with Rockwell for the film below, too.