After the enormous success of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, there were bound to be more swashbuckling seafarers arriving in theaters. And finally the next big deal pirate project has the go from DreamWorks to set sail. This one will probably be a little less fantastical, though. According to Variety, the plan is to have David Franzoni (Gladiator) script a new film about the notorious real-life pirate Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard). The infamous character has already been portrayed in a number of biopics, including Raoul Walsh’s over-the-top 1952 effort and a more recent Hallmark-produced miniseries starring Angus Macfadyen. But none before have had the benefit of being shepherded by former Philadelphia 76ers owner Pat Croce, who actually owns a pirate museum down in Key West.
Croce seems enough of a pirate expert, having also written a pirate history book titled “Pirate Soul” and an upcoming children’s book titled “My Pop-Pop Is a Pirate.” But DreamWorks will well enough riding on the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies that it shouldn’t matter how historically accurate the new movie is. And on top of being able to exploit those film’s subject matter, DreamWorks should also find comfort in being able to capitalize on the success of Disney’s Enchanted, as well. Blackbeard, as the new biopic will be titled, is being produced by Enchanted’s Barry Josephson, so look for the posters and trailers to feature one of those “From the producer of … ” tags.
Variety makes no mention of Jeffrey Katzenberg’s involvement or interest in the Blackbeard project, but he’s probably excited about plundering Disney’s fortunes, even if only from its coattails. Too bad this isn’t a less-serious, more animated production so that he could engage in the kind of Disney parody he’s done with the three (and counting) Shrek films. Though I guess considering Disney already went the comedy route with both its Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and its much earlier Blackbeard’s Ghost, going for accuracy in Blackbeard is actually just another way of flipping Disney on its head.
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