Screenplay Review Captain Blood

Genre: Swashbuckling Adventure!

Premise: A rebel fighter is sent to the island of Jamaica in 1685 to spend the rest of his
days as a slave. Instead, he becomes one of the most notorious pirates on the high seas!
About: The most recent word is that Warner Brothers wants to create Captain Blood in
space with the Spierig Brothers (Daybreakers) directing. But its clear from this 1994 draft
that theyve been wanting to revive Captain Blood for much longer than that. Whats fun is
that this was written by one of THE de facto writers of the 1990s era, Jonathan Hensleigh,
who wrote Armageddon. Slap on some extra fun when you learn that none other than
Frank Darabont rewrote this draft along with Chuck Russell, who directed The Mask and
2002s The Scorpion King, and youve got yourself a cornucopia of script history.
Writers: Jonathan Hensleigh (Revised Screenplay by Chuck Russell & Frank Darabont)
Details: 123 pages October 26, 1994 (Revised First Draft)

Pitt for Captain Blood??

Arrrgggh.
Shiver me Oscar timbers. Get me some chum so I can get over the absurdity of a Birdman
win. Okay okay, maybe Ive been a little hard on the Birdman screenplay. But while I admit

its got feathers, its also got some tar. Let me explain.
On the plus side, Birdman has a unique main character, it has the balls to tell its story in
real time, and it takes chances (giving its main character telekinesis for no reason, for
example). These are all things that should be celebrated in scriptwriting. However, the two
things that remain the most important to me in a screenplay are a good story and a set of
characters I care about. Birdman had neither. It was an experimental film first and a story
second. And while I think its important that films like Birdman get made, it just didnt
resonate with me.
So where does that leave us today? Ill tell you where. The 1930s! Thats when the original
Captain Blood came out. And despite trying to bring the film back from the dead
numerous times, its still failed to make it to the multiplexes. Today, were going to look at
one of those attempts from 1994 and try to figure out why they didnt make the film
then.
Its 1685. Peter Blood, a surgeon, is fighting for the rebel forces, who are trying to
dethrone the current English king (King John or King George or something). The rebellion
fails and Blood, along with the remaining surviving rebels, is sent to Jamaica, where the
Spaniards buy he and his crew into slavery.
Blood lucks out though, and somehow becomes the property of the Governors hot
daughter, Arabella. You know youre hot when even your name is hot. Blood and Arabella
develop a flirtationship, which pisses off the local commander of the island, Major Edward
Bishop, whos been trying to get sum of dat action for awhile now.
Bishop tries to kill Blood a couple of times, but Blood is not your average movie hero. This
dude makes all the other 90s heroes look like Chang from The Hangover. And when a
pirate ship disguised as the Kings emissary attacks the island, Blood uses it as an
opportunity to grab his rebels and take the ship for himself.
Soon, Blood is roaming the seas, looking to pirate himself some treasure (taking from only
bad people of course). There are a couple of problems though. The most evil and
terrifying pirate on the sea, Don Diego, kind of wants his ship back. And Bishop needs to
save face with the King by getting the rebels back to Jamaica.
And lets not forget, of course, about Arabella, who Don Diego has plundered for himself.
Naturally, this is all going to collide in one big galactic swords and sandals battle. Will
badass Blood kill the bad guys, get the girl, and keep on plundering? Or will he experience
another 85 year drought before another movie about him can be made?

Goooooood plotting.
We dont talk about this much but plotting how you piece together your story is one of
the most important factors in keeping your screenplay exciting. If you go along one path
for too long (the opening 40 minutes of Interstellar), the reader can get bored. Its your job
to maximize the emerging storylines structure in a way that keeps things moving along.
I LOVED how Captain Blood did this.
We started with this great battle of the Rebels taking on the Brits. The Rebels lose and, as
punishment, theyre sent to Jamaica, where theyre then forced to work as slaves. Then a
pirate attack on the island occurs. Our hero, Blood, uses the opportunity to steal the
pirate ship and become a pirate himself. Then hes off to get supplies for his ship. Then he
must save Arabella. Etc. Etc.
The lesson to be learned here is that things were ALWAYS MOVING. Now every story is
different. Some stories youre going to stay in one place. But being a sea-faring version of
Star Wars, this was the kind of script that needed to keep moving from one location to the
next. And I dont think a lesser group of screenwriters wouldve been able to do that
satisfactorily. I could see them taking forever before our rebels were shipped off to
Jamaica. And then, once in Jamaica, taking forever before Blood got his pirate ship. But
Hensleigh (along with Darabont and Russell) stays everywhere JUST LONG ENOUGH to
establish that place in the story, and then gets to the next section as soon as he can.
This actually leads me to a very powerful tool you can use in screenwriting. And its called
the disruptor. The disruptor is any disruption you throw into a story that changes its
course. I read so many scripts that just. stay on the same track all the time.
The story doesnt evolve ever, and therefore we get bored.
The disruptor throws everything off, forcing your characters, and therefore your story, to
act. The original disruptor is the inciting incident the thing near the beginning of the
story that rocks your main characters world (Lukes aunt and uncle are killed in Star
Wars). But this should not be the end of your use of disruptors in your story.
In Captain Blood, just as I was wondering how long we were going to stay in Jamaica and
where the story was going to go from here (it didnt look like it could go in too many
interesting ways), Hensleigh throws in the disruptor, the arrival of Don Diegos pirate ship.
IMMEDIATELY the story was exciting again. Thats the power of this tool.
Even beyond the plotting, this was just a really well-written screenplay. I think I was

expecting some over-the-top 90s Bruckheimer thing. But the tone here feels surprisingly
realistic for an adventure story. I would even argue that that may have been the reason it
didnt get made.
If you look at Pirates of the Caribbean, that whole franchise had a tongue-in-cheek
component that made it more accessible to the masses. This is a little more hardcore, a
cross between Pirates of the Caribbean and Master and Commander. Blood is an
especially worthy hero. I usually see through these manufactured Im very aware Im in a
movie characters. But Blood somehow feels like a real live hero. And you just dont see
that in adventure movies these days. Or ever, really.
The only weird thing about this script is the way its written. 94 was still smack dab in the
middle of the golden spec days where spec screenplays were focused not just on
becoming movies, but being entertaining experiences on their own. Captain Blood takes
more time describing things and creating its mood and maybe thats why it feels more
substantial than a lot of the stuff Ive been reading lately.
And the great thing about this script is that, because its a period piece, it doesnt really
need to be changed at all. This could still be filmed today without substituting a word. Of
course, why do that when you can put it in space? But Captain Blood could be the
serious alternative to the no-longer relevant Pirates franchise. Id love to know if you
agree. Because, yup, Im actually posting the script. Enjoy!
Screenplay link: Captain Blood
[ ] what the hell did I just read?
[ ] wasnt for me
[ ] worth the read
[x] impressive
[ ] genius
What I learned: Is your screenplay starting to feel stale as it creeps into that second act?
Disrupt it with a disruptor! Throw something unexpected at the characters that forces
both them AND THE STORY to act.
P.S. Do you have the next Captain Blood? Enter your script in the SCRIPTSHADOW 250
CONTEST, go check it out here!