‘Captain Blood’ Goes Sci-Fi
Errol Flynn in the 1935 version of 'Captain Blood'
Here’s an interesting piece of news.
Warner Bros. is remaking, or perhaps the better term is “re-imagining”, the 1935 pirate classic, Captain Blood.
The original Captain Blood starred Errol Flynn as a wrongly imprisoned British doctor named Peter Blood who escapes and joins up with a French pirate and becomes a pirate in the Caribbean.
The new Captain Blood will remain faithful to the original story with one exception – the whole thing takes place in space.
The change of setting came about after Warner Bros. and producer Bill Gerber received a pitch from the Spierig brothers that innovated the original as a sci-fi pirate film.
“At first, I felt like I was in that scene in The Player, where Buck Henry pitches the sequel to The Graduate,” said Gerber. “But when I took a look at their animatic depiction of a pirate battle in space, it had such a distinctive visual look to it that I said, ‘Great, I get it.’”
The Spierig brothers are the team behind the upcoming sci-fi vampire movie Daybreakers. If you haven’t seen the impressive trailer for Daybreakers, watch it here.
Captain Blood is presently scheduled for release sometime in 2011.
Source: Variety
jason: 
Paul: 
Coijo e tal: 
VinceC: 
beth: 
sasss: 
August 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 am
This is either going to be a huge success, or a huge steaming pile.
If they avoid the “ron moore-isms” and avoid filling it to the brim with angst, dysfunction, and jiggly cameras, AND stay true to their word about simply moving the story into future/space, it should be cool.
NOTE TO FILM MAKERS: Make it Cool. Save “reeeeaaaaallll” for Lifetime Network, Soap Operas, Reality TV, and Jerry Springer.
Anyone who hasn’t seen the original Captain Blood should do so, it’s one of Errol Flynn’s best.
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
So there’s absolutely no chance that it could turn out just average then?
I’m also interested to see how a film about a guy who has the love of his life kidnapped by a space pirate and who must fight to save her can be made without the character experiencing angst…
August 4th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Guy, watch the Errol Flynn classic, it will answer your questions waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than I can.
Also, the story of “Captain Blood” is a wee bit different than you describe.
As for the angsty nonsense. Sadly, these days, angst and dysfunction are used like whitewash to cover over an appalling lack of skill as a writer or producer.