Pirates, He-Man Returns , Kill Bill and More
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End courtesy Walt Disney Pictures
Questions about Pirates, the He-Man movie and what became of that extended DVD of Kill Bill.
Send your movie questions to
FlickChick.
See Maitland McDonagh and Ken Fox review this week's new flicks in
Movie Talk
!
Question: Is this the last
Pirates of the Caribbean movie or are they going to make a fourth? -- Russell
FlickChick: I'd say the odds are good that there will be a fourth
Pirates of the Caribbean film, but it's not a sure thing. Assuming that you've seen
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and why would you be asking otherwise? you know it sets up the possibility that Captain Jack Sparrow (
Johnny Depp) and who knows who else will embark on a quest for the fountain of youth. Involved parties have alluded vaguely to various possibilities in promotional interviews for
World's End.
Producer
Jerry Bruckheimer told Australia's Herald Sun that "This is the end [of the current trilogy], but whether one of the characters or a couple of the characters continue on, it's a possibility." Screenwriter Terry Rossio told Moviehole.com that it could go either way, but that he and writing partner Ted Elliott were probably going to write a script, but that there are "forces in play to make it happen, and forces in play to make it not happen."
London's
The Sun quoted Depp saying, "I've never really felt I'm done with playing the character, so why shouldn't we try a fourth and a fifth? If I were approached to play Captain Jack again, under the right circumstances you know, with all the right and proper elements involved and a good script, I would definitely give it some serious thought."
Orlando Bloom, on the other hand, told Contactmusic.com that he thought the story had run its course and should remain a trilogy, while allowing that the producers "haven't said for sure that this is the end of the road." It's been suggested that if there's a fourth film, it might be a prequel or a spin-off that focuses on a couple of characters.
If you read between the lines of the bet-hedging, I think it boils down to this: Disney would love to make another Pirates film, because the brand is a thoroughly established moneymaker. But the second and third movies were insanely expensive, and there's only so much they can do to get the costs down. Audiences have been trained to expect lavish special effects, and they cost money. And they've grown attached to certain characters: I can't imagine a
Pirates movie without Depp, which is why the fact that he appears willing to consider a fourth film bodes well. And the consensus seems to be that
Keira Knightley's Elizabeth is also a must-have. Beyond that is anyone's guess, but there have been rumors that if there is a fourth film, Bloom won't be aboard. Rumors, incidentally, that predate his reservations.
Send your movie questions to
FlickChick.
Question: Are there any plans to release the combined
Kill Bill Vol 1. and
Kill Bill Vol 2. on DVD? I am hoping that there will be an ultimate director's cut with even more great footage! Lisa
FlickChick: Plans, yes. But I get the feeling they're very vague and subject to
Quentin Tarantino clearing the decks, and given the number of projects he's always juggling, that may not happen any time soon.
As far back as 2005, Tarantino was talking about the DVD special edition, saying that he wanted to cut the two
Kill Bill Vol.1 (2003) and
Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004) together, release the integrated version into theaters at the end of 2006 and then put it on DVD with a "big supplementary" package.
Then along came
Grindhouse, followed by all the hand-wringing and Monday-morning quarterbacking occasioned by its less-than-bountiful box office, which industry wisdom has it was mostly the result of its three-and-a-quarter hour running time. And then the stand-alone cut of
Death Proof (complete with the missing lapdance sequence!), which just played at the Cannes film festival and will open across Europe in July 2007. It's already in theaters in Italy (a stand-alone version of
Robert Rodriguez's
Planet Terror is scheduled for August).
All that said, maybe the experience of cutting
Grindhouse apart will prompt Tarantino to put
Kill Bill back together. I'll be first on line, money in hand.
Send your movie questions to
FlickChick.
Question: Tell me it's not true that they're making a He-Man movie with actors Joey
FlichChick: How I wish I could. But there's a live-action version of
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in development, despite the fact that the live-action
Masters of the Universe (1987), starring
Dolph Lundgren as He-Man (I never tire of typing that ludicrous name) and
Frank Langella as the evil Skeletor, was a flop of legendary proportions. The pitch that sold toy-corporation Mattel -- which has been very cautious since
Masters of the Universe -- apparently involved visual comparisons to
300 and the idea of creating a
Lord of the Rings-style mythology that could be mined repeatedly.
Producer
Joel Silver is the driving force behind the project, but I'm sure Warner Bros. was sold by the prospect of a lucrative merchandising deal. The thinking seems to be that moviegoers who grew up on the 1980s'
animated series (which came
after the action figures -- the show was basically one long commercial) will flock to a feature film for the nostalgia value. The same reasoning produced
Transformers, and unless it tanks colossally I'm sure we'll be seeing
He-Man next year.
Warners and Silver are also behind a live-action version of the Japanese cartoon series
Speed Racer that's pretty far into preproduction. The cast includes
Emile Hirsch as Speed,
Susan Sarandon and
John Goodman as Mom and Pops and
Christina Ricci who was born to be an anime girl as Trixie.
Matrix directors
Larry and
Andy Wachowski began shooting
Speed Racer in June for a Spring 2008 release.
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FlickChick.
Question: Does Ralph Fiennes have some kind of famous uncle? My girlfriend swears he does, but she can't remember where she heard it or any details. Rob
FlickChick: I'm sure she's thinking of Ranulph Fiennes, who's actually
Ralph's cousin. But it's an easy mistake, since Ranulph, 63, is certainly old enough to be the 44-year-old Ralph's uncle. Ranulph Fiennes, is a professional adventurer who spends his time doing things like discovering lost cities, crossing Antarctica on foot and writing books lots of books. He apparently made it to the short list of candidates to replace
Sean Connery in the James Bond franchise this was at a time when producer Albert Broccoli was casting a wide net that went beyond professional actors -- but was rejected after his first face-to-face meeting with Broccoli. The story is that Broccoli declares that Fiennes had a "face like a farmer," the irony being that he's a bona fide Baronet.
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FlickChick.
