While the general public is increasing flocking to the open water, it seems Hollywood is pulling back.
According to inside reports, Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides, the Johnny Depp movie, reduced the number of open ocean scenes when it came to producing the 137-minute blockbuster. The screenwriters created a story that limited the high cost of shooting the film on the high seas. So instead of ship-to-ship combat with pirates dramatically boarding enemy ships, the scenes included jungle chases, London visits and sword fights.
The movie tells of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) looking for the Fountain of Youth along with his nemesis Barbossa, Blackbeard and others, some of which was flmed on the beaches in Hawaii. Movie director Rob Marshall explained, “This [fourth movie in the franchise] is different. We don’t have ship-to-ship battles. Instead, we have a centerpiece scene with mermaids, these sirens of the sea.”
But even the mermaids were hot in a 2.7 million gallon pool on the Universal Studios lot instead of a backlot built on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent like the first film of the series.
But if Captain Jack wants a real-life Fountain of Youth, he might be better served picking up open water swimming.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.