Jerry Bruckheimer Says 'Pirates 5' Script Could Be Better, Finally Discusses 'Lone Ranger' Issues

Long before Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was released and grossed over $1 billion worldwide, screenwriter Terry Rossio was hired and completed a script for a fifth installment. The success of the fourth film all but assured Pirates of the Caribbean 5 would be made, especially when Johnny Depp said he'd do it and a list of rumored directors was leaked. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has now issued an encouraging update. In a discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, he confirmed that the script has been completed but "we decided we could do better." They're now re-outlining the story.

After the jump read more about this as well as his detailed and enlightening comments on the budgetary drama surrounding his next film, The Lone Ranger.

Bruckheimer revealed all of this in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He didn't get too detailed with Pirates of the Caribbean 5 talk but said the following:

We're in the outline phase. We will lay out a story. We have a script, but we decided we could do better.

That's certainly good to hear. The initial script seemed to come together quite quickly and after the critical bashing On Stranger Tides took, it's nice to hear they're spending some time improving the story for the inevitable fifth film.

Before that film sees the light of day, though, Johnny Depp will reteam with Bruckheimer on The Lone Ranger. You can read about the film's trials and tribulations here but Bruckheimer spoke at length about what had to be changed for Disney to sign off on the film.

First, he talked about tightening up the production, something one would think every film would end up doing:

We redid the production plan. We originally laid it out to avoid winter. Every single location we had, there was winter — 30s at night, 50s during the day, best-case scenario. We were jumping around. California, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah. If we had a big crowd scene and then the next day we were shooting just Tonto and the Lone Ranger, we still had the crew "on" because you have them weekly. So we bunched the sequences that were big together, and for the smaller scenes [we] laid off the extras, the effects people, the makeup people. It costs an enormous amount with 150 extras on the set. It's not the extras, it's the people that support the extras. You're still carrying all the wardrobe, makeup and hair people. We bunched together scenes with Tonto and the Lone Ranger, so we had a much smaller crew. We saved about $10 million just by doing that.

Later, he spoke about a few sequences that had to be cut out of the script:

We cut a sequence involving a coyote attack — supernatural coyotes — and a small animated segment. The train [scenes] are intact. We trimmed it a little bit. Gore made some sacrifices creatively, but nothing that would hurt the film. We had to work it out. The studio set a number, and it was always our responsibility to get to the number.

Finally, he commented on the film's new release date, May 13, 2013, versus December 2012:

It's a better date. Before, we were up against The Hobbit and World War Z. Now we're a week after Fast and Furious and a couple weeks before Superman. The competition is not as bad. There are a lot of movies jammed in at Christmas. In the summer, you have a longer run. You're cut off after the first of the year on a Christmas release.

There's much more at The Hollywood Reporter. It's a very enlightening look at the problems a big time producer can face when he's dealing with such huge numbers.