NEWS: Rob Marshall Confirmed For Pirates 4...

Singing Pirates? I think that sounds like a great idea, don't you?

All the way back in July, rumors began circulating that Chicago director Rob Marshall was at the top of the list of directors to take over the vacant directors chair for the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which had been left by original trilogy director, Gore Verbinski.

Well, it appears those rumors have been verified, and we can now say that Pirates 4 will be directed by Rob Marshall. At the recent DGA screening of Nine, Marshall indeed confirmed that he is now slated to direct Pirates 4. Here’s what he had to say:

“ya’know, it’s something that I was offered and never in the world thought I would do but then I was like ‘why not?’… I’m doing ‘Pirates of the Caribbean….”.

This is all according to a report from AICN, which also states that Johnny Depp, rumored to be out of the project, was excited to get to work with Marshall. Interesting news indeed.

Now, aside from this news, the only other thing that we truly know is that the film will be based on a pirate novel written by Tim Powers, called, you guessed it, On Stranger Tides, which had been picked up by Disney a few years back. Here’s the synopsis:

Puppeteer John Chandagnac, bound for Jamaica to recover stolen money from his uncle, becomes Jack Shandy after pirates attack his ship and force him to join their crew. Shandy’s struggle to accept his new life grounds the story for readers, even as Blackbeard and vodun magicians whisk everyone away to dreamlike lands where the Fountain of Youth itself awaits. The chaotic sea battles sing, though at times key events happen so quickly that they get lost in the shuffle as Jack tries to comprehend where he’s going and what’s at stake.

Most people may shake their heads at this idea, but personally, I love the choice. While I’m not the biggest fan of Chicago, I think Marshall has a very distinct style, one that could be interesting when put in context of a pirate film. He also has made his money in costume/style heavy fair, which this is definitely a part of. Sure, it won’t be a musical, but I think Verbinski, while a fantastic director, was beginning to feel stale in the directors chair of that film, and I’m very excited to see that Disney is set to shift to a very different style. It at least gives me hope that Disney is going to try to do something interesting with this film, which about a month ago, I would never have thought.

What do YOU think?

Go see something good!