If you thought Cap'n Jack was the only buccaneer at sea, think again. Seizing the high seas back for the Brits, Hugh Grant will provide the voice of Pirate Captain in Aardman's first 3D stop-motion movie, The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists.
Grant might not be the first name you'd associate with swashbuckling (investigative journalism, sure) but then Aardman's pirate isn't the most successful in seafaring history. Grant's bumbling buccaneer is joined by an equally rag-tag crew boasting the vocal talents of Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey and Ashley Jensen. Freeman presumably snuck in his studio time before all the Hobbiting kicked off.
The Pirates! sees Pirate Captain and his crew travel from the shores of Blood Island to the cobbled lanes of Victorian London in their attempt to pip Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) and Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) to the Pirate of the Year award. The pirate-hating Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) and a young Charles Darwin (David Tennant) are also on-hand to complicate their quest.
Chicken Run co-director Peter Lord shares directorial duties with fellow Aardman Jeff Newitt. Says Lord: "As the Pirate Captain, Hugh Grant combines an effortless on-screen warmth with brilliant comic timing. And as the leader of our motley pirate crew, he shows a real barnstorming, swashbuckling side of his character as well. Only Hugh could anchor this story of love, loyalty, greed, and nautical high-jinks."
The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists is due out on March 30, 2012. We suspect it could be all kinds of fun.