New Captain for a Series Becalmed

Yet Disney knew it needed to do something bold to make “Pirates” sail again. Fans of the franchise were in open rebellion over bloated running times and bewildering story lines. (A crab army that can carry a landlocked ship on its back? Really?) The third installment, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” clocked in at a barnacle-covered 2 hours 49 minutes and was quickly nicknamed “At Wit’s End” by bloggers. Senior Disney executives, dismayed by ballooning costs, were in a similar state of mind.

Even Johnny Depp, the linchpin of the series as the swishy swashbuckler Captain Jack Sparrow, knew that the last film, directed by Gore Verbinski (as were the first two), had lost its way. “In the second and third movies Gore was married to an enormous amount of substories, a lot of mathematics to connect,” Mr. Depp said carefully in a telephone interview. But a new director, in particular an unlikely choice like Mr. Marshall, could “breathe air into every moment,” Mr. Depp said. “I was adamant about really getting this right.”

Mr. Depp’s determination bodes well for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” which arrives in theaters on Friday and will have an out-of-competition screening at the Cannes Film Festival this week. But Jack Sparrow, to paraphrase one of his best-known lines, can’t bring a ship in all by his onesies. Was Mr. Marshall equally bent on restoring specialness to this theme-park ride turned movie franchise? “I really had one criteria for signing on,” Mr. Marshall said over lunch last month. “And that was a story I could actually follow.” The challenge was to do it in fewer shooting days than needed for “At World’s End,” and with a reduced effects budget.

Unusual pairings of directors and material is one of Hollywood’s favorite trendlets. Marvel Studios hired Kenneth Branagh, known primarily for his Shakespeare expertise, to guide “Thor” to the big screen. Columbia Pictures gave “Moneyball,” a coming baseball movie, to Bennett Miller, whose only previous film was the highbrow “Capote.” With any luck, the strategy results in popcorn movies that are also creatively interesting.

Mr. Marshall’s choreography background led to Disney’s embrace, said Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer of the “Pirates” series. “He understands movement and how action could be done in a different and fresh way,” he said.

Still, Mr. Marshall’s ascendency in Hollywood is unusual. Stage experience does not typically translate into successful filmmaking. People like Elia Kazan, Orson Welles and Arthur Penn did it back when movies were wordier and less dependent on visual effects. But directors who have tried to play in both worlds more recently — James Lapine, Julie Taymor — have struggled, even on the more serious end of cinema. (One exception: Stephen Daldry of “The Hours” fame.)

Mr. Marshall, 50, is often compared to Bob Fosse, who directed the original stage production of “Chicago.” Despite Busby Berkeley, the list of choreographers who have become successful movie directors is even shorter. And unlike Fosse, who won an Oscar for directing “Cabaret,” Mr. Marshall had to be coaxed behind a camera.

“Film was the furthest thing from my mind, and the first time I was supposed to call the word ‘action’ I couldn’t even do it because it felt so unnatural,” he said. “So I just mumbled, ‘O.K., go.’ But even by the end of that day I was fine. I’ve tried to dissect why I took so quickly to it. I think it’s because when I used to stage for theater, to free myself — to think beyond that little space under the proscenium — I would always imagine what the scene or number would look like on film. And then I would translate it to the stage.”

If prerelease audience surveys are to be believed, “Stranger Tides” will reverse Mr. Marshall’s cold streak. The movie, a trim 2 hours 8 minutes, is on track to surpass the $114 million opening weekend for “At World’s End” in 2007. “Stranger Tides” is the first film in the franchise to be released in 3-D, which carries a $3 to $5 premium per ticket.

“Stranger Tides” focuses on a mad dash for the Fountain of Youth. The movie is loaded with the kind of quirks that turned the series into a juggernaut. Early on in the new film, Jack Sparrow escapes from King George II’s palace, but not before sneaking a cream puff. Then he downs some grog with his pirate father, played by Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones guitarist whose real-life persona served as inspiration for Jack Sparrow’s screwball mannerisms. (Mr. Richards also had a cameo in “At World’s End.”)

“Does this face look like it’s been to the Fountain of Youth?” asks the grizzled Mr. Richards. The deadpan response from Mr. Depp: “Depends on the lighting.”

Geoffrey Rush reprises his role as the hygiene-challenged Captain Barbossa, but characters played by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley have departed. Penélope Cruz joins the cast as the daughter of the pirate whom all other pirates fear: Blackbeard, portrayed by Ian McShane, perhaps best known for HBO’s “Deadwood.” To save money, this installment was filmed in Hawaii rather than the Caribbean.

At least in Mr. Depp’s heavily eyelinered eyes, Mr. Marshall delivered a film that will remind fans why they loved the series. “Rob knew this scene needed to whiz by, this one needed a few extra beats,” he said. “It was like building a song.”

But a run-of-the-mill blockbuster won’t do — “Stranger Tides” was expensive despite the budget pressures, costing an estimated $400 million to make and market — and it is far from clear what kind of staying power this PG-13 movie will have once the Twittersphere has weighed in. One scene in particular, one that Mr. Marshall refers to as the “mermaid battle sequence,” could prove upsetting to younger viewers.

About halfway through the film, Jack Sparrow and crew make a pit stop at a place called White Cap Bay to capture a mermaid. (They need a mermaid’s teardrop to make the fountain work.) But the beautiful mermaids turn ferocious, sprouting fangs and hissing like cobras; pirates harpoon dozens of them. The bloody result is like something straight out of “The Cove,” the 2009 documentary about dolphin slaughter.

People who have worked with Mr. Marshall find it amusing that Disney pursued him for one of its most important film properties. Back in 1999, the producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan recalled, Mr. Marshall was lined up to direct a television version of “Annie” for ABC. But the network’s Disney overlords balked. “Disney said, ‘Why would you not give this to an experienced director who we know will do it right?’ ” Mr. Zadan said. But Mr. Marshall kept the job, and the bet paid off: “Annie” was a big hit, and a director was born. Mr. Marshall, whose life partner, John DeLuca, is a producer of “Stranger Tides,” grew up in Pittsburgh as the son of two college professors. He has a twin sister, Maura Powell, who owns an architecture firm, and a younger sister, Kathleen Marshall, who is nominated for two Tony Awards this year for her direction and choreography of “Anything Goes.”

After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University’s musical theater program, Mr. Marshall headed for New York, where he was quickly cast in “Cats.” He got injured in that role but took up choreography, racking up credits like “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and a revival of “Damn Yankees” (another Fosse connection.) He then aimed higher, earning directing credits that include the 1998 revivals of “Cabaret” and “Little Me.”

Shortly after that, having succeeded with “Annie,” Mr. Marshall went to meet with Harvey Weinstein, who was interested in turning “Rent” into a movie. Instead, Mr. Marshall pitched his vision for “Chicago.”