Warners is taking Captain Blood into space

We've known for a while that Warners has been working on a new version of 1935 pirate tale Captain Blood.

But now the studio, working from an intriguing new idea from directing brothers Peter and Michael Spierig (both below), who made Undead and the upcoming Daybreakers, have decided to greenlight a reboot set... in space.

The original, which starred Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone in the tale of a doctor who signs on with a pirate crew, only to clash with his skipper over the love of a woman - is very firmly set on Earth.

Well, the ocean. But you get the point.


Now the Speirigs have pitched an idea to producer Bill Gerber that would take the story and rocket it beyond the atmosphere.

"At first, I felt like I was in that scene in The Player, where Buck Henry pitches the sequel to The Graduate," Gerber tells Variety.

"But when I took a look at their animatic depiction of a pirate battle in space, it had such a distinctive visual look to it that I said, 'Great, I get it.'"

Yes, that's what you want - an idea that feels like a spoof of a terrible concept...

Still, the studio is pushing ahead with it and writer John Brownlow - who has already written one draft, which kept the original feel of the film - is staying on board to work up the interstellar take.

But the storyline will apparently be maintained, just with a few extra robots and space battles.

Could work...

[Source: Variety ]

Excited by the idea? Or wish it was thrown out of an airlock? Tell us...

Freelance Journalist

James White is a freelance journalist who has been covering film and TV for over two decades. In that time, James has written for a wide variety of publications including Total Film and SFX. He has also worked for BAFTA and on ODEON's in-cinema magazine.