In case it wasn't mentioned earlier...
Roman Polanski made a movie called 'Pirates' that stiffed badly. Then came 'CutThroat Island', and that was even worse and took down Carolco. I only watched CTI yesterday, I kind of like it, some of the support roles and the locations are excellent, as is the soundtrack, plus there's a stunt sequence that makes me laugh every time, but the story is overly complex and the two leads were, frankly, woeful.
Back in the 60s there was a TV series series about Drake with Terence Morgan in the lead, and as a preteen I LOVED that show!
I have a script for a pirate movie out doing the rounds, but man, it's tough getting it read!