What a Rush - Part II

So, with Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides sinking all kinds of box office records, here’s Part II of my chat with legendary Australian actor Geoffrey Rush.

In my previous chat with Rush, he eluded to the fact that there will indeed be a fifth and sixth Pirates film depending on how On Stanger Tides went at the ol’ box office. But initially Rush, who plays Captain Barbosa, says no one had any idea just how successful the franchise would be.
“No one commercially had made a popular pirates film, but Jerry’s (Bruckheimer) pretty astute,” he says.
“The first ideas that came through in the screenplay didn’t have the curse of the Black Pearl in it, it was just another swashbuckling ride.
“Then Jerry said they needed more to it and they came up with the idea of the Pirates becoming freaks under moonlight.
“It became so popular we made part two and three back-to-back.
“It was always a one-off at the beginning and it was only towards the end of the shoot when there was a week or two left that it was known as Pirates Of The Caribbean.
“We started getting memos from the Disney head office and once we saw the semi-colon on the letterhead we smelt a sequel.”

Rush says the “fantastic little cliffhanger” at the end of the third Pirates film, At World’s End, left potential for a fourth.
“I was pretty confident I had the Fountain Of Youth map at the end and that Johnny had the hole in it and it took them a while to thread that story together and freshen it up, but there are completely new storylines,” he says.
“Elizabeth and Will’s story had come to an end.
“They’re probably 120 years old now and settling down for a quiet life in Dorchester.”

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is sailing the cinema high-seas now.