Wednesday
08Oct2008
Rumor of the 'Caribbean': Tim Burton to Direct 'Pirates 4'?
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 11:18AM
In this troubling and troubled economy, you need to know what
investments are safe and which ones are particularly volatile. I'm going to save
you money on one: Don't buy the rumor that
Tim Burton
will direct Pirates of the Caribbean 4.
I love the Burton-Depp collaborations, and think they work better together than any tandem around, even Scorsese and De Niro. Part of the reason is because they know when to work together and when to go it alone.
But let's review what we know about a fourth Pirates movie: Disney just paid Depp a reported $56 million to return as Captain Jack Sparrow. Now, that's the largest sum ever given to an actor upfront. We don't know what Depp's incentives look like after the fact, but he'll probably make close to $100 million by the time this is all said and done.
If you're Disney, and a quarter or a fifth of your budget is going to one salary, why would you spend millions more on Tim Burton?
Supposing Verbinski does return, Disney would likely have to cater to his contractual whims. Should his price be too high or should he not want to return, why in the world would Disney give a director - who, frankly, is poorly suited for the material - a bunch of money they don't need to spend, both in salary and in points?
If Verbinski's out, I would not go after a huge name if I'm Disney. And the reason is Depp's salary. He's getting that much because that's who people want to see. To the millions of people who see the film, it won't matter who directs it. Attaching a big name would mean that even if Pirates 4 makes a billion dollars worldwide, it would likely be paying $125 million or more to two people, on top of a huge production budget.
But won't Burton and Depp mean more box office for Pirates? Not really. The duo's only major hit was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sweeney Todd barely made money, ditto Sleepy Hollow. When you look at how much money the Pirates series has made already, you can safely assume that the director won't have an influence one way or the other. If you think that another five million people would see it because it's Depp and Burton instead of just Depp, I don't think there's a lot of evidence to support that. Cinema Blend also has some casting rumors - Sacha Baron Cohen or Russell Brand as Captain Jack's brother - which are a little easier to digest, but I wouldn't go near the Burton rumor if I were you.
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in Gore Verbinski, Johnny Depp, Pirates, Sequels, Tim Burton | Print Article | Email Article | 1 Comment | Share Article
Reader Comments (1)
I know I said some stupid things about Depp & Burton but I would actually very much want Burton to direct Pirates IV.
He would bring a whole new sensibility to the characters and the world they inhabit.
Pirates II and III were loud, silly and running on empty for most of the time.
Verbinsky has done his bit, now let Burton do his.