New Pirates Film Has a Title

The next instalment in the Pirates of the Caribbean films (yes, there is going to be a number 5) is to be titled Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

We previously reported that Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (Kon-Tiki) will be directing the next Pirates, with production beginning next year.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is due out Summer 2015.

Via Den of Geek

Pirates of the Caribbean 5 Directors Named

Despite the fourth chapter of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, On Stranger Tides, series being critically underwhelming, Disney are going ahead with a fifth, and have found a director - or directors, rather - for it.

Disney Infinity Launch Details

The blogosphere has been buzzing, over the last few weeks, with details and speculation about an exciting new Disney game, one that would allow the player to play as characters from the many facets of Disney - today we got our first look at that game, Disney Infinity.

Similar in idea to the Activision published Skylanders games, in which the player takes one of many real, physical toys and places it on a sensor (which Disney are calling "Infinity Base"), which then makes the character appear, playable, on screen; it's a nifty idea. They're also introducing "power discs", which enable special powers for the character when stacked underneath them on the Infinity Base. What better application of said idea than to allow Disney fans to play as all of their favourite characters: team up Captain Jack, Sulley and Mr. Incredible to fight an Omnidroid? No problem! Stick Buzz Lightyear's jetpack on Mike? Yeah, to Disney Infinity and beyond!



Check out our first look at some gameplay from Disney Infinity, above. The starter pack consists of characters from The Incredibles, Monsters University and Pirates of the Caribbean, with more available-separately packs to be revealed later. Pixar Post has the press release and some cool images from the game; Family Gamer TV has a hands-on with some of the game's physical elements.

Disney Infinity's due for a June release on Wii, WiiU, PS3, Xbox 360, 3DS, PC and mobile platforms. Check out the website here.

The Lorax and John Carter Debut - Who's Winning?

The latest animated effort from Illumination Entertainment - the studio behind Despicable Me - The Lorax, was released last Friday. While the critical response to the film hasn't been overwhelmingly positive, it has been raking it in at the US box office, opening in the number 1 position and maintaining that place this week. It's currently grossed over $120 million, making it the highest grossing film of the year thus far.

It's placed ahead of a film that made its debut this weekend, a film that Disney was hoping would place significantly higher, Andrew Stanton's John Carter. The Finding Nemo director's adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's first Barsoom based sci-fi novel was hoped to be Disney's next franchise, to replace Pirates of the Carribbean; yet it took only £30.6 million in its opening weekend. While it's far too early to write it off yet, the combination of bad marketing, poor critical response so far and a reportedly large budget mean that a sequel is looking less likely; which is a real shame given Andrew Stanton's blatant love for the source material and his immense talent.

It's a shame to see John Carter under-perform, and I'll be able to judge it for myself (and contribute to its worldwide gross) when I see it this weekend.

Aardman News 4 - Straight from Annecy

We've seen a lot out of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, lots of details on the Pixar short, La Luna, and thanks to Aardman Co-Owener Peter Lord's Twitter, we get an article with some in-depth looks and thoughts on Aardman's upcoming slate, Arthur Christmas and The Pirates. The article tells us that Arthur Christmas is fantastic and a great twist on the rather stale Christmas film niche, it also gives us more insight into the film's plot - seeing Arthur and his granddad (the former Santa Claus) travel around the world in the old fashioned sleigh to deliver one last present that was left behind. It sounds great and Skwigly seem to agree, the animation style (CGI here, rather than the trademark Aardman stop-motion) looks great and distinctly Aardman.

The article also gives us a little more details on Aardman's 2012 stop-motion film, The Pirates, which is said to be even more impressive and visually stunning and massively impressive, as well as hilarious. The article also gives us an insight into the genesis of the film, and apparently it has been on the table since the 1990s, but DreamWorks told them that no one would pay to see a pirate film. Since then and the success of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the film has been put under full production and is being directed by Peter Lord and is set to be released in 2012.

I can't wait to see either of these films, I love anything out of Aardman and would encourage you all to head over to Skwigly to read the full article, it's incredibly interesting.