Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides might not have brought home quite as many doubloons as Disney might have hoped, but it’s still plundering box office takings around the world. So it’s not a surprise to learn that other people are also looking to jump on the piratical bandwago… Er… band-galleon… And pump out projects of their own. The latest? Ridley and Tony Scott, who are setting up Pyrates with US network Fox via their production company.
Scott Free is behind the miniseries, which is looking to dock across the pond in the summer of 2012. It’s been created by Barry Schindel, who has worked on shows such as Law & Order and the Scotts’ own series Numb3rs. Based on historical events, Pyrates will follow the events surrounding the largest heist in pirate history – when buccaneers captured the Spanish silver fleet in 1628 – which is said to have kicked off the “golden age” of piracy.
There’s no word on when it’ll start shooting, but 24 veteran Stephen Hopkins is aboard to launch the series by directing the first episode.
And they’re not the only gang of swashbucklers looking to fly the Jolly Roger on the small screen: fellow Fox-owned channel FX has partnered with uber-producers Graham King (The Departed) and Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead) for Port Royal. Hurd hatched the idea herself for a period drama series set in the late 17th century in Jamaica, taking a Deadwood-style look at its rise as the richest new city in the world at the time and its reputation for attracting cutthroat pirate types. Ahoy! Etc.