Is This The Single Worst Idea In History?
Wow… when Michael Fleming scoops, he comes up with some craaaaazy shit.
Rob Marshall directing the fourth Pirates movie for Disney.
I mean… mind boggling… truly… it takes my breath away.
In what sick, demented universe would a company like Disney put a guy who has never shot action, never directed anything bigger than a stage, and is struggling with an overlong cut of his third film right now after one hit – Chicago – and one utter flop – Memoirs of a Geisha in charge of their billion-dollar-gross-a-film franchise? Is it really down to this? Is Johnny Depp trying to destroy his meal ticket so he won’t have to put on the pirate’s cap ever again?
I wish Rob Marshall well. If anyone can help him get Nine into shape for a successful Oscar and box office run, it’s Harvey Weinstein, who has a bad rep for overcutting good films, but deserves a lot of credit for being about to fix problem films as well as any producer ever has.
But Pirates 4?
McG for Terminator Salvation at least made some sense. I can only assume that Disney is looking at the Harry Potter series and David Yates coming in to handle the last four films of the series to success so far. But Yates had a lot more experience as a director than Marshall does. And the Potter franchise has a lot of chiefs in place who haven’t changed. Pirates, for which Gore Verbinski did not get enough credit because Depp charmed so intensively, requires some real imagination. I mean, will every action sequence dissolve into a memory that Captain Jack Sparrow has of a dance number in a musical hall somewhere?
Really… if someone at a party told me that I couldn’t guess in a million years who would be directing the next Pirates movie and gave me 100 guesses, somewhere around guess 47, I would, in exhaustion, perhaps choke out Rob Marshall’s name with a laugh because wouldn’t that be funny. Paul WS Anderson is more qualified. And Dominic Sena would probably do a much better job, just letting Bruckheimer tell him what to do.
Is this an April Fool’s joke? Come on… someone… tell me… it’s a joke… right? Gotta be… right?
Seriously, 8 fucking hours of “saga” based on a theme park ride wasn’t enough? I struggled to stay awake during Dead Man’s Chest and probably couldn’t pass a test on the plot. Can anyone who saw At World’s End explain what nagging questions have been left unanswered?
Rob: Of course the nagging unanswered question is, as always, can we wring some more bucks out of this thing?
I’ve actually rather enjoyed Marshall’s films, but yes, he is an odd choice. But sometimes when you get a director out of his wheelhouse he surprises you.
Makes as much sense as putting Mike Newell in charge of a Harry Potter movie. Wait a minute!
I guess Disney figures they’ll have the 2nd unit directors take care of the bulk of the action, and have Marshall focus on the actors? I dunno, still doesn’t make sense. Used to be, for a mega-production, you’d get — at the very least — a solid action veteran who could deal with the scale and scope of it all (McTiernan, maybe, or Phil Noyce), or maybe some wunderkund visual stylist out of music videos to give it an whole new look and feel (like Tarsem or Fincher, back in the day).
Marshall is neither of these. He’s sort of a nothing director, IMHO, especially outside a musical number. He’s like Ron Howard-lite, except even Ron Howard has done movies way beyond Marshall’s scope.
Hey, they could have hired Rob Cohen. I think that would be a worse idea.
I agree, I can’t conceive this rumor is true. Nothing against Marshall who I think is a talented director, but I just don’t think Disney would choose him for this job, doesn’t make much sense unless he really campaigned for it and like agreed to a small fee/no backend. I agree that even WS Anderson would make more sense for the film. It is movie 4 though, so maybe no one gives a shit anymore.
I disagree on Cohen, he was developing a Pirate movie with Reeves that he seemed to have a real passion for. I think Cohen would have been a pretty decent choice here.
Getting Rob Marshall means they DO give a shit. Not giving a shit would be hiring Paul Anderson, who you bring in to make a b-movie and get it made relatively cheaply and not have to worry about any kind of artistic ambition getting in the way.
I could see this being true…how many action movies did Marc Forster direct before he got offered Quantum of SOlace?
I could technically give 2 shits about this overwrought, boring cash cow franchise, but isn’t Verbinski’s pre-POTC creds similar to Marshalls’ only Verbinski never got an Oscar nod?
All Verbinski did of note was “The Ring” and “The Mexican” was a much more floppy flop than “Memoirs of a Geisha” and it starred Brad Pitt AND Julia Roberts! You seem to have an AICN type grudge against Marshall, DP…
Dissenting opinion (not that I care much):
The POTCs aren’t much (other than Keira’s infernal hotness), but they deserve better than a one-note choreographer/NON-DIRECTOR like Rob Marshall.
I haven’t liked Marshall’s movies, but they demonstrate that he knows his production design and choreography pretty well.
Aside from Depp, who doesn’t need much direction, what else is there in a Pirates movie?
I’d prefer Marcus Nispel, though. Pathfinder would have been great if it had had anything resembling a script.
I bet Marshall would KICK ASS choreographing piraty sword fights.
What is “an AICN type grudge,” Don?
The guy is three movies in, has never handled anything with effects, has only done one non-musical and it wasn’t good… and you hand him a film with billion dollar expectations? And your best response is that I am making this a personal issue for some unknown reason?
I would say they were batshit crazy if they gave the job to a great director, like Paul Thomas Anderson. I would say they were crazy if they handed it to Marc Forster, who didn’t do well with Bond even though the franchise is producer-driven, not director-driven. I would say they were crazy of they handed it to Soderbergh… unlike Moneyball… because he clearly has no interest in making any movies – including the Ocean’s – that are meant for ages 6 and up.
And no, the resumes have little in common. Verbinski’s Mouse Hunt was a terrific little family action-y thing with high cartoon style that suggested what would come in Pirates. And The Ring was a genre hit. Nothing on Marshall’s resume suggests he would be a good choice for either of those movies… or of Pirates 4.
“I guess Disney figures they’ll have the 2nd unit directors take care of the bulk of the action,…”
So sad but probably true. Which is why I can never fully trash Spielberg for Crystal Skull. It has flaws but he still knows how to choreograph a large scale action scene on his own. Sure some 2nd unit stuff is shot, but Spielberg still is the author of the widescreen action compositions.
Too many new directors do not get this and rely on the ever reliable disjointed shakey cam for action. Even Nolan had to do better with The Dark Knight than he did with Batman Begins. Someone like Michael Bay falls in the middle. He relies a lot on coverage, but you do get a sense he knows how to block the action (even if you do not like the whole film).
I love Chicago…maybe he can pull this off.
Marshall may not have a genre resume but he directed an Oscar winning movie, and that buys a whole shitload of cred. I’d say maybe there isn’t such a huge difference directing an art-directed type of musical vs an art-directed action movie.
I think the main problem people had with Quantum was the action scenes, which Forster didn’t direct anyway. I’ve been on a few sets during action stuff and I never saw the director around at all. Second unit shot the whole thing. I don’t know specifically about the Bourne movies, but it looks like even those action scenes were totally directed by second unit, hence the similarity to Quantum (same team). So Marshall just needs to direct the talky talky stuff, just like he did on Chicago, and then let second unit handle half of the movie.
You could say why hand Ang Lee The Hulk…he hadn’t done anything like that before. But then you can point out Crouching Tiger…but Wo Ping directed those fight scenes…Ang said he tried getting involved but realized he wasn’t that great at it and let Wo Ping do his thing.
I agree with Nicol on Bay…if the man could actually have any taste in scripts, he would be a great action director. Bad Boys 2 had excellent excellent action scenes. It was the other 90 minute’s worth of bullshit comedy that made that movie so awful.
Michael Bay, the world’s greatest 2nd Unit Director. Damning with faint praise, but it’s praise none-the-less.
Nicol, in addition to Spielberg, I’d put Cameron (of course) and Mann, and perhaps someone like Kathryn Bigelow as others who can handle large-scale mayhem and still give the audience a clear sense of who is where; the “geography” of the scene, basically. It’s a skill that used to be far more common than it is now, unfortunately. (Think of what a seasoned pro like McTiernen could do with a POTC-style budget.)
Disney must know the Weinstein Co. is close to collapse, otherwise the Mouse House wouldn’t ask Rob Marshall to direct POTC4.
If the Weinstein Co. winds up in Chapter 11 — or even in liquidation — it’ll be a long time before “Nine” gets released.
BTW “The Ring” was more than a genre hit. See it once and you’ll never want anything to do with VHS again.
I agree, Bay stages great scenes. But he needs someone else to deal with the actors and the editing.
it’s called being a DoP
I too loved Mouse Hunt. Saw it on opening weekend in a not terribly crowded theater. It was myself and several families. Oddly, the grownups (and my 17-year old self) were laughing our asses off, but the kids seemed kinda bored.
Chucky – honestly asking for clarity this time – how do the Weinsteins’ problems have anything to do with Disney possibly hiring Marshall? I don’t see a logical connection. TWC collapsing somehow makes Disney want to hire him? Huh?
JESUS CHRIST, could we have the Bay argument a FEW THOUSAND MORE TIMES with the same people THROWING AROUND THE SAME GODDAMN ARGUMENT?
While you’re at it, how about you all tell me about how bad GIGLI was, or Showgirls, or how much Schumacher fucked up Batman, or FUNNY The Happening was, or Wicker Man?
Same goddamn film geek arguments, always following the T-POINTS down to the letter.
Someone surprise me with an original take on Bay or any of that shit and you’ll have my FULL FUCKING ATTENTION, but if I have to McDouche tersely restate his SAME BULLSHIT ARGUMENT for the goddamn ZILLIONTH TIME, I’m gonna throw my monitor like Paul fucking Crewe.
Doubly ironic since McDouche likes to call out IO, me, Nicol and Chucky for repeating ourselves, when he rehashes the same smug shit 10,000,000 times an hour.
I’ll bet he’s sitting there SHAKING AND TWITCHING LIKE HUMPTY HUMP all day at his new INTERNET-LESS job wondering what’s going down on the Hot Blog and where he can work in his stupid Bay rants.
UP YOUR GAME MCDOUCHE.
Showgirls is actually pretty good.
Probably redundant, but Bay does not use 2nd units on his films. He takes pride in the fact that everything is shot with his team under his direction.
I dont have an issue with Jeff’s content, the problem is that most every comment is in the same sartorial tone.
Do you maybe mean ‘sardonic’?
But otherwise, sorry. I don’t mean to be monotone. Lex’s cut-and-paste rants and Nicol’s boilerplate smugness are definitely elements I want to avoid here.
Sartorial, sardonic…
I think what he meant was “DOUCHE.”
Fair enough. Gigli wasn’t that bad, Showgirls was an experiment and Schumacher’s Batman films, while flawed, have a through linear story that works to conclude the story set up by Burton in the first Batman. Basically, in the last two films, Bruce Wayne gives up the ghosts of the past and now must learn how to plan for a future that he never anticipated. He ends up happy and sane because he now has a family of his own and a legacy that Thomas, Martha, and Alfred would be proud of. The Bruce Wayne story arc (especially with deleted footage from Batman Forever) works pretty well, but the villain stuff (especially in Batman & Robin) is what weakens the third film and eventually kills the fourth.
Yeah, Showgirls was fun! The Happening wasn;t funny, it was just kind of sad. After Signs I thought Shamalayan could do no wrong, but now I don’t even see his movies in the theater anymore. He went crazy.
Maybe Lex has some original and interesting insights on Michael Bay?
I just read somewhere that Michael Bay’s next movie is going to star Fred Durst and Kristen Stewart. Is that true???
boner?
I agree with Scott in all of those things.
In regards to the topic at hand, well… I don’t like it. I have an image of what I want Rob Marshall to be as a director of films and directing PotC4 is not it.
But, really, this film seems shaky from the outset. No Keira, no Orlando, No Verbinsky. And reeks of desperation. Although at least Chucky will be please because they’re certainly not going to put “From the Academy Award-winning Director of Chicago” on the Pirates ads.
Pirates 4 is supposed to be set in revolutionary America. So, really, why not go with a dude who knows how to use set pieces and choreography in terms of a new film? It’s not really stupid, and he used effects a lot on his films. Leave it to Beardy McGee over there to ignore the freakin credits of a film.
Even if he uses second unit a lot. He could probably pull it off. Why they do not hand it off to Turtlebaum is beyond me, but stop the hating. Let’s see what he can do, or how bad he can fuck it up.
It may be the single worst idea in history. But the double worst idea in history is bringing Depp back to play Captain Jack one_more_fucking_time.
If you have a story. Tell the story. People love Captain Jack, and he deserves a better ending. Seriously, he needs a better ending. At World’s End is bloody terrible, and I like that film! HIYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Again, Dave….what did Verbinski to that warranted a CHANCE at the franchise?? The director matters not, although I remember a sneak peak rave you got when you saw Davey “snooze” Jones in full regale.
Are you going to bat for someone AICN style or are you so out of touch that boring, cash cow franchise directors matter?? If it’s the latter, don’t tell Harry Potter and James Bond to watch out for hacks infringing on their turf.
IO, they don’t have an interesting story they want to tell. They just want to make another billion dollars.
Biggie, money is always a factor, but Captain Jack in Revolutionary America is interesting to me. So let them make their billions, and may the film be more concise than AWE.
Hey, if the guy who made MEMENTO can go on to do THE DARK KNIGHT, nothing’s impossible. Just sayin’.
? I don’t get that because for me, Memento remains Nolan’s best film, and it sounds, Cadavra, like you don’t care for it? Weird.
Never mind – I see what you get. Insomnia in the middle was a good stepping stone, though – and a better intermediary step than Marshall has had, probably.