Filming for the fifth installment of the very popular pirate movie franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean” will have an extension of three weeks beginning on March 24 until April 13. But it won’t be happening in Australia anymore the way it did last year, but in Vancouver, Canada.
When the Australian leg of the filming of the movie wrapped up sometime in the summer of last year, everyone thought that it was all over. But apparently, it was not, which only strengthened notions that the filming of the movie has been delayed indeed.
In addition to delayed filming, there were also reports saying that the movie has gone way over its budget and some are attributing it to its lead actor Johnny Depp, who has caused the substantial delay in the production last year.
It is possible, however, that the three-week filming in Vancouver is just corrective production work while the movie is already being edited in post-production. It is likely that additional sequences shall be shot to add the final touches to the movie which is officially titled “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.”
Instead of going back to Australia, which would entail more cost, the production team decided to do it instead in nearby Canada.
Reports have it that Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Geoffrey Rush will be leading the other cast members who will do filming in Vancouver, Canada under the helm of Director Joachim Ronning, reports Vancity Buzz.
But Canadian fans will be disappointed to know that filming will not be done outdoor in full public view but in a studio in the city.
The most expensive movie to date
Sometime in May 2015, four months before the movie wrapped up filming, “Pirates of the Caribbean 5” was already US$70 million over its US$250 million budget, which only means that after four months of production, the movie could have actually doubled its given budget.
With the additional three-week filming in Vancouver, it is possible that the movie’s budget could already hit more than $500 million, making it the most expensive movie of all time.
The movie is set to hit theaters on May 26, 2017.
Johnny Depp has yet to make a comment regarding the filming extension and the budget of the movie which has ballooned to a huge amount, apparently due to his doing mostly.
In addition, he and his wife Amber Heard also had problems with the Ministry of Agriculture of Australia after bringing in their Yorkshire pet dogs in Australia via a private plane without proper documentation, causing a national controversy, notes the International Business Times of Australia.
Pushing up the release date
From an initial release date of July 7, 2017, Disney decided to push up the showing on global cinemas of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” after the entertainment conglomerate moved the release date of “Star Wars Episode 8” from May 26 to December 15 also next year.
May 26 happens to be Memorial Day in the US. For almost 40 years, Memorial Day was the domain of the “Star Wars” franchise, playing host to the first six movies in the series.
When the seventh movie of the series “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” broke numerous box-office records with its December release, Disney has decided to allow the franchise to jump ship to Christmas.
But Disney would not just let other production companies to take over the Memorial Day, so it decided to hand the release date to another movie franchise that could really use such a sweet release date.
Of all the four movies of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” was the most excellent film and Johnny Depp’s performance in it was a ton of fun.
When “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” was shown in 2006, the film was a little less fun and the actor’s performance was a little less fine.
Come 2007’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” the movie was already a total mess. It also did not help the franchise one bit when “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” became a complete nightmare.