Pirates were not always a huge seller for Hollywood. Before Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean catapulted its stars to household stardom, one notorious venture into the shark-infested waters was the middling Cutthroat Island, which tragically bankrupted the production studio, according to Forbes. Creating a movie based on a theme park ride didn’t exactly scream a recipe for success, but the 2003 film proved everybody wrong. Unfortunately, nothing gold can stay.
As successful as the original trilogy was, later films in the franchise did not measure up. That and the controversy surrounding the film’s star — Johnny Depp — made it seem as though the brand was scorched earth. In a true rollercoaster of emotions, however, Pirates may be back on its way to the top. All it needed was the writer of one of the most successful shows of the 2023 season. Chernobyl and The Last of Us showrunner, Craig Mazin, is behind the upcoming installment of the franchise. Mazin’s perspective could be the fresh eyes that could refresh the worlds of pirates. His comments to the Los Angeles Times are even more encouraging.
“We pitched it and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird. And they did! And then he wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around.”
Weird is the best thing for the brand, and the best indicator of this is the live-action One Piece series for Netflix. One Piece was another project that seemed doomed from the start. Based on an anime that has been ongoing for the past two decades and still brings fans to their screens in droves, adapting a live-action counterpart seemed like a disaster. Not only do anime adaptations rarely meet expectations, but this one is about pirates. Following young Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) as he attempts to become the best pirate in all the world — and find the titular treasure — the Netflix series would have to appeal to a massive audience that has been disappointed so many times before.
But somehow, the impossible happened. Against all odds, One Piece has impressed the audience that is impossible to please, in addition to critics. The best thing about the live-action adaptation is staying true to the source material. And while Pirates of the Caribbean has no source material to speak of, there are still some lessons the upcoming venture can take from the Netflix series. The reason it has become so popular is because of the quality of its writing, particularly that of the characters and the progression of the plot.
Pirates of the Caribbean had a vision at the beginning. Characters from the franchise became iconic because of their relationships with each other. But skeleton pirates and squid-faced captains became more important to the films and character progression fell by the wayside. While One Piece can be ridiculous at times, it is full of heart and — most importantly — has a compelling narrative. The crux of the One Piece finale works not just because it rejects the Marvel route of a big boss fight, but adds emotional stakes. The big villains of the season are the Marines, who are intent on hunting down Luffy’s pirate crew. And though that could have worked on its own, the added weight that Vice-Admiral Garp (Vincent Regan) is also Luffy’s grandfather makes their showdown more emotional. Unlike the cursed Cowboy Bebop adaptation for the same streaming platform, One Piece takes the source material seriously. It moves up this conflict earlier in the story but remains a faithful adaptation. It does this by maintaining that the Straw Hats are a family and that is the most important dynamic of the series.
Of the upcoming Pirates film, we know very little. The Johnny Depp of it all throws into question if anyone is returning for a new adventure. But remember Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and Will (Orlando Bloom)? Their stormy romance was the emotional center of the first film and leads to character development for them both. Will realizes that he has a bigger destiny at play and he shouldn’t be resigned to the life he has. Elizabeth is a modern woman in every respect, literally suffocating at the role she plays in society. These character plots were forgotten later, but we can start again!
Mazin has put some of the most harrowing and heartwrenching relationships on the small screen. With the help of The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann, we have laughed — but mostly cried — with Ellie (Bella Ramsey) and Joel (Pedro Pascal). Their relationship is the entire point of the show and makes Joel’s final decision to lie to Ellie a real heartbreaker. If there is anyone who can revitalize a broken franchise, it’s the man who broke a billion hearts with the Frank (Murray Bartlett) and Bill (Nick Offerman) relationship.
