- According to director Chuck Russell, Captain Blood was planned as a big budget action adventure with a fun and exciting tone to what Pirates of the Caribbean eventually became.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger was interested in the role of Captain Blood and wanted Chuck Russell to direct the film.
- Despite the enthusiasm behind the project, Captain Blood movie never moved forwar
Long before Pirates of the Caribbean became one of Hollywood's biggest adventure franchises, another pirate movie almost got made with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The action star was once linked to a new version of Captain Blood, a classic pirate story based on Rafael Sabatini's novel about a former soldier who escapes captivity and builds a new life as a pirate in the Caribbean.
According to director Chuck Russell, the film was planned as a “big budget” action adventure with a fun and exciting “tone to what Pirates of the Caribbean eventually became.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger was interested in the role and wanted Russell to direct the film. Despite the enthusiasm behind the project, the movie never moved forward. In the end, things like high costs, long planning and studio decisions kept Captain Blood from becoming a reality.
Speaking with Polygon, Chuck Russell said, “We had a wonderful script for Captain Blood that Warners was interested in doing. It was a different kind of Captain Blood. There was a conversation about Arnold in tights. And I said Arnold would not be in tights. I had a painting done of him in leather pants that looked super cool.”
“Arnold wanted me to direct his next film because he loved The Mask. [Captain Blood] was definitely a fun action movie. Very similar in tone to what Pirates of the Caribbean eventually became. Eraser was a movie that wanted to happen and wanted to happen right now. Captain Blood was a slow development at the time. It's so complicated. I can't put it on any one person. Those were both big budget movies and everything has to be aligned perfectly to get the green light and move ahead. I was passionate about that project, but that's the business.”
Although Captain Blood never made it to the big screen, it did not end the friendship between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chuck Russell. The two artists later worked together on the 1996 hit Eraser, which became one of the actor's best action films.
Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood has been adapted several times since the novel was first published in 1922. The most famous version remains the 1935 film, directed by Michael Curtiz, featuring Errol Flynn in the title role.
