Interview: Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, Director and Producer of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'

Cinematical recently sent one of our Netscape colleagues, Ryan Budke, to the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End junket in LA on our behalf, where he was able to snag some one-on-one time with the film's director, Gore Verbinski and, later on in the day, with action-blockbuster maestro Jerry Bruckheimer. Each interview is somewhat short, but taken together they make for a nice read -- I found it especially interesting to hear Bruckheimer's thoughts about the potential continuation of the Top Gun series and his confirmation that someone is indeed hard at work on the continuing adventures of Axel Foley. For Verbinski's part, he seems to be completely exhausted by the experience of shooting the film and is only dreaming about taking a long, uninterrupted vacation, before rotating back to the movie world. So here are the two interviews, back to back -- enjoy!


Gore Verbinski

I'm sure these next two weeks are gonna be ...

GV: They're mad, but they're nothing compared to actually making the movie.

I guess I should ask you the question you've been asked a million times -- when will we get to see 'Pirates 4'?

GV: There are no plans for four. Ted and Terry and I are not spending nights until three in the morning writing and coming up with ideas. That's certainly what we did once we agreed to do the second and third one. We spent a lot of time just figuring out what story we wanted to tell. It doesn't mean that somewhere down the road we might not decide to jump in, and we've certainly left that option open, but I think everyone needs a little time off. And it really depends on -- is there a story worth telling? I don't think anyone wants to jump back into a 'here's your release date and there's no script.' I think we have a very talented crew and we've done what I think is some pretty amazing work under those circumstances, but they're not circumstances you want to engage in time after time.

You could always go the Indiana Jones route, and just take fifteen or twenty years off.

GV: See, that sounds good to me. I don't think it sounds so good to the studio.

So if we're not gonna get part four next summer, what's up next for you?

GV: Next summer ... insane. I'm looking forward to vacation, actually. This has been such a long time with no light at the end of the tunnel. I made the ring and couldn't go to the premiere because I was shooting Pirates. Then made The Weatherman, then Pirates, then Pirates3 ... so its been about seven or eight years or solid movie after movie. I'm looking forward to not knowing what I'm doing next, not owing somebody a movie, reading some books, reading some scripts ... just taking a little bit of time to just live instead of work.

Kick back in Tortuga?

GV: Negative. No Caribbean.

You've pretty much done it all, as you've said -- what are the pros and cons of directing something smaller, more intimate, as opposed to a blockbuster?

GV: Well, I've tried to make this movie small. I tried to celebrate the smallness whenever we could. Obviously, we have this huge spectacle, the logistics, we're inventing things that are difficult to accomplish. The maelstrom, for instance. Any of those sequences. But once we're rolling the camera, we're always trying to keep it small and focus on the characters and the performance. So the stories are stories, as much as that sounds ridiculous, when you compare Weatherman with Pirates, but sometimes drama is a bank heist and sometimes drama is a mother's daughter having her period and not knowing what it is. Drama is drama, and its really ... if its something small you put a magnifying glass up to it, if its something big you use a wide lens.

What are some of the fun aspects of putting together the comedy? The Pirates series is obviously a very light-hearted series, and you're also known for a famous comedic commercial.

GV: Well, I think comedy is drama, often. It's hard to have comedy over a period of time -- commercials are one thing, but over a period of time -- comedy and tragedy go hand in hand. When I speak of drama, I'm really referring to just 'desperately trying not to be ordinary.' Trying to get something that has a little bit of friction, conflict, absurdity.


Jerry Bruckheimer

When will we see Pirates 4?

JB: I'm just worried about getting three out, but we give you a little glimmer of hope. So we'll see what happens, se how this one goes.

Does Disney have an idea yet?

JB: There's an idea in the movie, so if that's the direction they want, that's our direction.

National Treasure -- is that going to be a trilogy as well?

JB: No, those are one-offs. There's about 18 pages of John Wilkes Booth diary missing. It's a true thing, 18 pages are missing, and what's on those pages?

So is there a plan for if this one does well ...

JB: Well, those we do one at a time, to see what kind of response we get.

Cool. Do you have someone in mind for The Prince of Persia yet?

JB: Not yet, we'll be attacking that, finally, when we get a director and a screenplay we want. Figure out who's available and try to sign em' up.

Do you think Keira would make a good choice to play the Persian princess?

JB: It's who's available, and who is right for the part. Who creates the part. Someone who walks in the room and you'll look at them and say 'I want to see them act, I want them to create something special.' We went to Johnny Depp with the pirate and said 'he's kind of a drunk pirate,' and he changed everything up. We just try to hire really talented people and let the rest work out.

It's worked out pretty amazingly so far.

JB: Yeah, you look at the cast, Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Bill Nighy, Geoffrey Rush, Naomie Harris ...

Is there any talk of remaking any of your old classics? Either you or someone else remaking them?

JB: Not that I ... I mean, somebody's making another Beverly Hills Cop movie, but I'm not involved, nor would I want to be.

Ever hear anything about remaking Top Gun?

JB: You know, Paramount, me, we worked on a script, we couldn't crack it, Tom Cruise worked on it, he couldn't do it, so now, in the future, who knows.

You've worked with some amazing people -- is there anyone you still look forward to collaborating with?

JB: Every single one is a great actor, or an amazing acress, they're all collaborative, they all want to make their part better, and some actors are so open and so want to succeed that they help everyone create stuff for their own characters. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to work with many myopic actors who are only in it for themselves. [Ryan's note: tongue firmly planted in cheek on that last part]

This is being touted as one of, if not the biggest summer for movies ever.

JB: God, I hope so.

What movies besides your own are you looking forward to this summer?

JB: There's Harry Potter, there's Bourne Identity, Michael Bay has a movie coming out, I'm sure that will be entertaining. There's a ton of stuff I want to see.

Do you have any new TV shows that are kind of in the planning stages?

JB: Not yet. We don't have anything for this season, but hopefully for next season.

Any plans for the [release] party?

JB: I just hope I survive it. Get through it without getting in trouble.