Pirates of the Caribbean
Das Interview mit Gore Verbinski
Ein Termin beim Oberpirat steht an: Gore Verbinski, seines Zeichens Regisseur des Sommer-Knallers Pirates of the Carribean erwartete uns in einem schönen Zürcher Hotel, um sich den anspruchsvollen Fragen des OutNow-Teams zu stellen.
Der Raum war ansprechend gross, ein paar Filmplakate und Fotos aufgestellt und Mr. Verbinski (ganz in schwarz) sass da und erwartete uns.
Nach fröhlichem Händeschütteln machten wir uns an die Arbeit....
» Das Interview auf Deutsch übersetzt
OutNow.CH: We've seen the movie, and are planning on watching it again. How many times have you actually seen the movie?
Gore Verbinksi: About 450 times.
ON: Wow! And it's not getting boring for you?
GV: No it is. I can't watch it anymore. But that happens on every movie. I can't watch my movies after their finished.
ON: But what do you do then? When you have to attend screenings.
GV: I'll go out and smoke a cigar...
ON: Really?
GV: Yes. I mean, I've seen it with an audience, quite a few times. Because that's a part of it. When you editing the movie, you see it with people to get some feedback and you can usually feel in the room what's working and what's not working.
And probably because I can't change it anymore, I don't like to watch it.
ON: So, you're aware of your "mistakes" on these screenings? Things that could have been done better?
GV: Definitely. When I see one of my movies on TV, I'm always thinking, "why did I do this" or "why did I have to do it that way". But then it doesn't really bother me anymore. If someone forgot to put the license plate on a car, I don't bother. But what bothers me are things, that I should have seen in the script. But I think I'm getting better at this, when I read a script. Sometimes movies have to be done so fast, there are things you forget or don't realize. Usually it's a big process to put a major movie back in development just because of "mistakes". And the studios don't want their films back in development, they want it on the screen on a certain date.
ON: How many times did you take the "Pirates of the Carribean"-Ride at Disneyworld? The movie is based on this attraction.
Die Gelegenheit lassen wir uns natürklich nicht nehmen!
GV: I lost counting, but I used to go there a lot, when I was a child.
ON: But for the movie, did you get any specific behind-the-scenes-tours or any other preparations?
GV: No, I went there once and that's it. I was pretty familiar with it. You know, the ride has no narrative, there's no stories. There's the basic concept of a curse, skeletons, but it's 1960's-Technology. When I saw it as a child, I was scared, but also found it humorous. There was nothing that I really wanted to put specifically in the film, except the fact that people should feel more or less the same as me in my childhood. Scared and amused.
ON: Do you think this could be the future of moviemaking? Movies based on Theme-park-attractions?
GV: I hope it doesn't. You know, first it was about directing a pirate-movie. A genre, that doesn't really exist. The second thing you realize is, that it's based on a ride and you get very nervous about it. You know, like making a commercial for a theme-park. But movies are stories. And you can take it from a box of kentucky-fried-chicken or a pair of shoes, if it has a good story. The Lesson the investers have to learn, that if they just form rides into movies, people are not gonna go, unless there's a good script.
ON: There are rumors on the internet, that a sequel or prequel is already planned. Can you tell us something about it?
GV: I can say several things. The Studio always was hoping for a franchise. If you look at "Disney", they don't have "Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter" or "Indiana Jones". I could be wrong, but I can't think of any franchiseable "live-Action-movie" that Disney has. So they where always whishing for something and that's why the put the subtitle "The Curse of the Black Pearl" in the movie-title.
In our case, we had an outline and we had a release-date and we said "okay, we're gonna do this" but in a second time, you really need to have a script and see if the story is worth telling. They make sequels in Hollywood, because they feel that there is an "appetite" from the audience-perspective. But as kind of "Chef" you still have to make a good meal. The people aren't gonna eat garbage, no matter how hungry they are. That's always the battle. Before you do a sequel, you really should see what' the script's like.
ON: Speaking of pirates, what do you think about the fact that movies like yours are already available on the internet soon after their release?
GV: It's a problem. I was talking to people who've seen the movie in europe and asked them, why they don't have a simultaneos release-date. And they where explaning to me, that they've been doing that to protect against piracy. But when they do that, they also miss oportunities. France is not the same as the US, for example. And they're different dates that work better for different countries. I think the Upside of releasing it when the "time is right" against the "Downside" beeing Internt-piracy, is greater. It was horrible on Hulk. It came out on the Internet and everybody downloaded it. But people who are gonna buy this movie are gonna buy it when it's on a display or as a present when the DVD is available. And all the downloads on the little screens is not gonna stop them from buying it. The real danger is, when they download the movie and NOT buying it afterwards.
ON: Do you think it's possible, that the whole business is going in this direction? That future movies will only be available on the internet and no longer screened in movie-theatres?
GV: I don't think so. Because there is something that I feel, going into a dark room with a bunch of strangers and watching a movie and experience it. Digital Cinema that is broadcasted over satellites is a thing to prevent piracy. But there will always be people who can crack it and figure it out. I think that's gonna happen. There is always a chance that a theatre owner gets a copy of the movie, runs it at 2 a.m. in the morning and videotapes it or a copy suddenly disapears, that's scares the studios. So if they just send the projection via satellite or cable, they can prevent cases like that.
ON: There's a website called www.moviemistakes.com. Have you heard of it? A bunch of fans go to see films and count the mistakes. They have found 17 mistakes in your movie. What do you think of that? Does that bother you?
We were there!
GV: No, not at all. I probably know 15 of these 17 mistakes myself. Making a film is a kind of imperfect science. There are wires that don't get removed, guys cleaning the set and so on. It just happens. And you just count on the fact that the audience is looking at Johnny Depp and not the corner of the screen where somebody's mopping...There will always be stuff like that and at the end its kind of fun and probably fun for people to find it. It doesn't bother me.
ON: I've got some keywords here and would like you to just say what pops into your head when you hear them.
Johnny Depp
GV: Pirat. I was gonna say "brilliant", but Pirate fits perfectly. I can't imagine this movie without him. When we're plannig the movie, we were counting on the skeletons and the supernatural things. But having finished the movie, I just can't imagine this movie without Johnny.
ON: Jerry Bruckheimer
GV: Classic. Old fashionned producer. When you look at movies, there are dozend's of "producers", but nobody produces anymore. A script walks down the hallway and somebody is attached to it and you never meet him and he get's a producing-credit, because they where part of the process. Jerry does it all. Puts the talent together, does marketing and so on. He kind of does, what producers used to do.
ON: Budweiser-Frogs
GV: Oi.... Can't live without them. They won't go away.
ON: Are you proud of them or are they something you'd like to forget?
GV: Nono, I moved on. I think it was really a commercial that kind of exploded into that kind of "Pop-Culture". It was a lot of fun and did great things for my career. But it comes up in interviews so much that it becomes kind of frustrating...
ON: Sequel to The Ring
GV: Ehren Kruger is writing a script and I'm waiting to read it. I don't necessarily see myself in the project, because I try doing things I'm nervous about doing. I try to make movies where I'm not sure if I can pull of. And a Sequel is not always exciting. But never say never....
ON: Daveigh Chase [Samara in The Ring]
GV: So funny you said her name. I was just thinking and hoping that she doesn't suffer from the Child-Actor-Syndrom. I think she's really talented, but she needs to play baseball, get some friends and not just play movies. Hollywood takes this children, their moms take them to castings and wasting the children's whole life. I was worried about her the other day.
ON: Switzerland
GV: Beautiful, clean, fresh air.
ON: Have you seen anything so far or is it just Airport-Hotel-Airport?
GV: Pretty much...The schedule is so crazy. But my camera-operator is swiss. And he makes great coffee... We lived together while doing this movie, so I feel like I'm having some connection to Switzerland.
ON: Censorship
GV: Cruel. The basic idea of censorship is horrible.
ON: The rest of my day
GV: Your day?
ON: Nööö, your day of course... :)
GV: Sitting here, drinking coffee and water and looking forward to tonight's European-Premiere at the "Kino am See" [Zurich, Switzerland].
ON: Well, thank's a lot for you time and the information. We really enjoyed talking to you.
GV: Thank you. It was a pleasure...
Abschliessend ist zu sagen, dass der gute Gore ein wirklich sympathischer Gesprächspartner war und wir das Gefühl hatten, dass da eher ein "Kumpel" sitzt, anstatt ein bekannter Regisseur aus Hollywood.
Gore Verbinski
Gore Verbinski's Filmographie
Pirates of the Caribbean (2003)
The Ring (2002)
The Mexican (2001)
Mouse Hunt (1997)
The Ritual (1996)
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