Posted on: Tuesday, July 11, 2006
It's a monster
By Jim Beckerman
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
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A ship gets swallowed by the deep in a scene from “Dead Man’s Chest.”
Industrial Light and Magic
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LOTS OF TREASURE: 'DEAD MAN'S CHEST' BLOWS AWAY THE RECORDS
"Dead Man’s Chest" raided box-office records this weekend. It had the biggest opening weekend ever at $135.6 million, it also had the biggest single-day take Friday at $55.5 million: 2. "Spider-Man" (2002), $114.8 million 3. "Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith" (2005), $108.4 million 4. "Shrek 2" (2004), $108 million 5. "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006), $102.8 million It had the biggest single-day take Friday at $55.5 million: 2. "Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of Sith" (May 19, 2005), $50 million 3. "X-Men: The Last Stand" (May 26), $45.1 million 4. "Shrek 2" (May 22, 2004), $44.8 million 5. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (Saturday), $44.7 million
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Johnny Depp stars in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest."
PETER MOUNTAIN | Disney Enterprises
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BLIMEY! PREPARE TO GO ON ACCOUNT
If "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" has you hankering for the buccaneer's life (or a safe and sanitized version, anyway), there are plenty of attractions, tours and destinations eager to help you part with a few doubloons. Disney: Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean, the 1967 ride that launched skull-and-crossbones mania, just got an overhaul to coincide with the premiere of "Dead Man's Chest." The updated attraction (revised at the Disney World version as well) features appearances by Jack Sparrow and Barbossa and supernatural character Davy Jones, plus music from the movie. Disney Cruise Line's private Bahamian island, Castaway Cay, is now home port for the film’s ghostly Flying Dutchman. The Bahamas: The Exumas and Grand Bahama Island also made appearances, and several hotels are offering pirate-themed packages. Through Dec. 25, the three-night "Swashbuckling Family Escape" at Grand Bahama's Pelican Bay at Lucaya includes lodging, breakfast and such booty as a half-day Skull & Crossbones fishing charter, chocolate gold coins, and a bottle of Captain Morgan's rum. Rates start at $1,499 for two adults and two kids. St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Chosen as a film location for their undeveloped appeal, the Grenadines haven't jumped on the "Pirates" commercial bandwagon. But you can sleep where the stars did at Young Island Resort, a 35-acre island retreat where summer rates start at $355 per couple, per day, including breakfast and dinner. (800) 223-1108 or www.youngisland.com. Dominica: A principal setting for "Dead Man's Chest" and a third sequel was the Caribbean island of Dominica, where hundreds of native Carib Indians were used as extras and tourism promoters are cashing in on the island's role. Starting Nov. 17, South Carolina-based Breakaway Adventures — (800) 567-6286 or www.breakaway-adventures.com — offers a nine-day walking tour to several film sites, with lodging in the same hotel used by the cast and crew. Cost: From $2,217 per person. — Laura Bly, USA Today
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Avast and belay! Heave to, ye scurvy sea dogs! And while we're on the subject: arrrrrrrghhhh.
Are ye lubbers ready for the year of the pirate?
You'd better be. Because "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" opened Friday, with Johnny Depp poised to make another trove of not-so-buried treasure for Walt Disney. And it's just the opening shot, buckos.
It's pirates, pirates everywhere, and not a drop of rum to drink, as everyone and his pop-culture brother jumps on the pirate bandwagon.
At Party City in Waikele, assistant manager Kristi Arrasmith said the pirate heat has been building for a couple of years, and they expect it at fever pitch soon: "For our Halloween, it's going to be pirate everything," she said.
All in all, quite a comeback story for the skull and crossbones.
Anyone would have told you before 2003's "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" raked in a cool $655 million internationally that pirates as a pop-culture fad were dead in the water.
Two earlier attempts to jump-start the genre, 1976's "Swashbuckler" and Roman Polanski's 1986 "Pirates," were not only flops, they were considered textbook examples of Hollywood not having its finger on the pulse of the audience.
What a difference a Depp makes.
His encore performance as the eccentric Capt. Jack Sparrow is expected to coincide this year with a spike in buccaneer-themed children's parties. At Party City, you can outfit yourself with an eye patch, three-point hat or pirate scarf, gold coins and even take turns whacking a treasure-chest pinata.
"It's a big deal, 'Pirates,' " said Arrasmith, who said their party favors come in both the Disney movie version and a skull-and-crossbones generic pirate.
And that's just for starters. Here's some more pirate booty — courtesy of your local theater, video dealer and toy store:
"The Pirate Queen," a new musical by Claude-Michael Schonberg and Alain Boublil, the creators of "Les Miserables" and "Miss Saigon," is dropping anchor on Broadway in the spring.
"Pirates!" is an updating of "The Pirates of Penzance," complete with a Caribbean setting and an added pirate "curse."
"Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys," a new CD collection from maverick producer Hal Willner ("Stay Awake: Interpretations of Vintage Disney Films"), due out Aug. 22, features artists like Bono, Sting and Lou Reed lifting their rum-sodden voices on such salty anthems as "High Barbary," "Spanish Ladies" and "The Cruel Ship's Captain."
Pirate Pearls, a white-chocolate edition of M&Ms themed to "Pirates of the Caribbean," has been issued by Hackettstown's Masterfoods USA.
Pirate-themed video games are hitting the market — Atari's "Pirates!" Akella's "Age of Pirates: Captain Blood" and Buena Vista Games' movie tie-ins "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" are among the many.
Pirate-themed board and card games — Pirates of Davy Jones' Curse (WizKids), a strategy game for children 8 and older, and Dread Pirate and League of Pirates (Front Porch Classics), featuring authentic-looking gold coins and cloth treasure maps — are piping aboard your local toy store.
As the makers of Captain Morgan spiced rum (another company that has benefited from all the pirate hoopla) remind us in their TV ads: There's a little bit of pirate in all of us.
"Who among us doesn't have that fantasy of breaking boundaries, of escaping into freedom and living by their own rules?" says Gordon Greenburg, director and co-conceiver of the musical "Pirates!" "That's why pirates in America always have a special fascination."
This "Pirates of the Caribbean" fad might seem brand new to today's kids. But it would have been familiar to their great-great-grandparents.
"There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy's life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure."So Mark Twain wrote in 1876's "Tom Sawyer," at a time when "playing pirate" was as universal to childhood as marbles, birthday cakes and bullying smaller children.
"The idea that buried treasure might be on a desert island somewhere really holds an enduring romance to kids," says Steven Hart, spokesman for board game manufacturer Front Porch Classics, which sells two pirate-themed board games, Dread Pirate and League of Pirates.
The Pirates of the Caribbean ride arrived just as pirates as a movie subject were on the way out, victim of changing tastes and the new vogue for super spies, space explorers and other up-to-date action heroes.
There things might have remained — had not Disney and Johnny Depp found a way to make pirates hip again.
Mary Kaye Ritz contributed to this report.
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