I suppose it was inevitable. Pirates are big news these days, and it has nothing to do with peg-legs, eyepatches, parrots or bottles of rum. Now Variety has revealed that Samuel L. Jackson's Uppity Films will collaborate with Andras Hamori's H20 Motion Pictures on real-life pirate negotiator's trials and tribulations.
The as-yet-untitled film will focus on Andrew Mwangura, a freelance journalist/negotiator whose Seafarers' Assistance Programme works to peacefully resolve incidences of piracy - where else? - off the coast of Africa. The announcement also reveals that Jackson is set to star as Mwangura.
In previous roles, Jackson's characters haven't exactly been known for their negotiating skills. Sure there was 1998's "The Negotiator", but didn't he take the hostages in that one? A typical Jackson character's idea of problem-solving often involves little more than an unseemly number of high-caliber bullets mixed with liberal helpings of profanity. We'll see if he can reign in that intensity when he has to negotiate safe resolutions with African pirates.
Is Jackson's intensity too much for the calm, steady demeanor of a pirate negotiator? Are "calm" and "steady" words that could even apply to a pirate negotiator? Wouldn't you rather see him brandish an AK-47 as he terrorizes innocent civilians and their boats?
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