Well mates, an unexpected Pirates update has arisen. Before there are announcements of a cast, crew, etc, there's pretty much always a director to choose first. A director who would...well, direct the making of a film. Generally to control a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. "And who is this director?" you may ask. Well, according to Deadline...
'Kon-Tiki' Helmers Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg Land 'Pirates Of The Caribbean 5'
Yes, dear friends, Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg - the directors of previous films Kon-Tiki and Bandidas - are now said to be chosen as the new directors for the potential fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film. Now it can be said that a new film is on the way! Once you have a director, it should be smooth sailing from there...but then that isn't the case for every film, such as Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4. But for now, let's rejoice while we can.
Also, along with your thoughts on Rønning and Sandberg joining the franchise, I thought we could dwell on the past for a moment and say which previous directors we thought did the better job (both featured films and one short film). These directors are...
- Gore Verbinski - Personally my favorite director of this wonderful series, Gore had the honor of directing the original and highly successful Pirates Trilogy. He amazed the cast and crew, who had nothing but praise for their fearless leader, with the energy and focus that he has. One can argue that Gore is one of the greatest directors of all time, but he was certainly the heart and soul of the entire productions of the trilogy.
- Rob Marshall - Regardless of how On Stranger Tides did critically, the fourth film did very well, and most of that is thanks to Rob Marshall. To make it with only 106 days between June and November 2010, and in 3-D no less(which according to them takes more time), Rob still made a decent installment of the Pirates series. On the plus side, it was considered to be an adventure on-and-off screen, with each moment as the cast and crew were making this film felt part of this unique experience.
- James Ward Byrkit - As Gore Verbinski himself pointed out, filmmaking is a collaborative art. And for the first three installments, among other projects, one of Gore's closest collaborators has been Jim Byrkit, a true jack-of-all trades who, though unseen and (for the time being, anyway) fairly unknown by Pirates fans, had made indelible contributions to the films on several levels. For the trilogy, Byrkit's end roll title s the rather enigmatic "conceptual consultant," but made his shot as director of the short film Tales of the Code: Wedlocked.
- I've personally had a chance to interview Mr. Byrkit over a year ago, and certainly showed that he love for all fans. He himself had said that The movies were made for audiences to appreciate and discover details - that's why so much effort went into them.
Now that I brought up the directors of the past and present, you can all decide your now-favorite(s) in the two polls below. The first will cover past directors of the four films and one short film, while the second will cover thoughts on the newcomers Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg. Or leave a comment!