Gore Verbinski Talks Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End DVD

This is a rather insightful interview with Gore Verbinski on the making of both the movie and DVD of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The most interesting part of the interview, for me, is how and when they decided on the trilogy.

Could you talk about the development of this trilogy? Was it always in the back of your mind to have multiple films, or did the idea of the trilogy come about after the success of the first film? In which case, what were the challenges that the screenwriters faced, and what "guidelines" were they given?

Gore Verbinski: The first film was originally designed as a "one off." We were so under the radar because honestly I don't think anyone thought we could resurrect the genre. After the success of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl we set about reverse engineering a trilogy. Some loose ends from the first film became assets in the process: Bootstrap Bill for instance, the 'P' brand on Jack's arm, the mention of the East India Trading Company etc. other ideas like the Kraken and Davy Jones were discussed during the development of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl but abandoned as that film took shape, and resurrected for the subsequent films once we knew were making them. Yet whenever you set out to make a film, I think you have the obligation to create characters that feel as if they come from other stories -- even Pintel and Ragetti have their own origins and destinations. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio are well versed in mythology and I enjoyed collaborating with them all the way up until each scene was photographed.

Certainly there were rather low expectations for the first movie, considering that the movie version of the Haunted Mansion didn't go anywhere. So when it opened and it was such a slam-bam fun movie, not to mention the swishy character that Johnny Depp had created, it certainly took everyone by surprise on how good it was.

Zz.