There’s a Walt Disney convention happening in Anaheim right now; I didn’t go because going to Comic Con is bad enough, it’s hard to imagine me retaining my dignity after a number of days of Disney Con. But it turns out actual news is coming from the convention – and then being helpfully emailed to me by Disney marketing!
The first big bit of news: Pirates of the Caribbean 4 has a title, and it’s called On Stranger Tides.
Some of you might recognize that title. There’s a book by that title, and it’s a pirate book. And it’s the book that inspired the Monkey Island series of games, and you have to assume Disney legal knows this. So is the new movie based on Tim Powers’ 1988 book? Here’s the synopsis:
This book follows the exploits of John “Jack Shandy” Chandagnac, who
travels to the new world after the death of his puppeteer father to
confront his uncle, who apparently has made off with the family
inheritance. During the voyage, he gets to know a woman named Beth
Hurwood and her father, an Oxford professor. Before they arrive, their
ship is waylaid by pirates and, with the help of the professor and his
assistant, the captain is killed and Chandagnac is forced to join the
pirate crew. The reader discovers a sinister plot being concocted by
the professor involving his dead wife, his living daughter and Blackbeard Chandagnac, now known as “Jack Shandy”, must put a stop to these plans and save Beth Hurwood.
It’s hard to imagine that Pirates 4 could come out of that synopsis, but I haven’t read the book, so there could be more.