I wanted to cover this when it hit the trades last week but got caught up in impromptu Friday afternoon quintuple anal and couldn’t get away. Philip Noyce is in negotiations to helm a remake of Captain Blood, the first of many Erroll Flynn/Olivia De Havilland pairings and one of the great pirate movies in history. Including Hook, Cutthroat Island, and Hackers.
Typically I’d be aghast at the trodding of such hallowed turf, but I think the statute of limitations of the 1935 have lapsed enough and Philip Noyce is a perfect guy to make the movie. He’s a keen director with tons of variety in his work [who else could pull off Blind Fury, Clear and Present Danger, Sliver, and The Quiet American in a career and not immolate in alternate bursts of glory fire and sadness sulfur?] and he’s not going to shrivel up in the face of the task of making a post Pirates of the Caribbean pirate movie with someone who will most likely be a charismatic movie star with lots of clout. He’s also a somewhat transparent craftsman who won’t overdo the style of the film or piss on the good name of original director Michael Curtiz.
Something about the idea seems logical, which is a nice change-up for a remake. Maybe it’s time for a new Captian Blood, a film that’ll live somewhere between the worlds of the Verbinski cash cow and something more graceful and ornate like Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. There’s a movie that just gets better and better over time. Captain Blood as an intelligent seafaring adventure would be a nice addition to 2010’s slate. Here’s hoping Noyce gets the chance to kick some dick with it.