Hans Zimmer Thought 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Was the "Worst Idea"

While Pirates of the Caribbean has become a global box office juggernaut over the years, legendary composer Hans Zimmer almost blew the project off entirely.

During a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Zimmer opened up about some of his most iconic films scores, including the well-known Pirates of the Caribbean theme. According to Zimmer however, he came close to passing on the project because, until he saw the first footage, he thought the entire Pirates idea was a bad idea.

"Pirates was a complete accident. I was working with [Director] Gore [Verbinski] on something, and I said to him, 'So, what are you doing next?' He's going, 'Well, I'm thinking of doing this Pirates movie.' Okay, Pirates movie… really? Seriously? This is the worst idea I've ever heard. …I got a phone call from Gore on a Sunday going, 'Come over, have a look at this thing.' He showed me a movie that I couldn't possibly have imagined. And I loved how wrong I was and how right he was."

Of course, Zimmer went on to take the job, where he replaced Alan Silvestri who had departed the project over creative difference with the producers. Zimmer and Klaus Badelt created the music for the popular film, including "He's a Pirate," the catchy theme that many fans will still find themselves humming to this day.

The score is a massive success now, but Zimmer went through quite a process bringing it to life.

"There was very little time left by the time I got onto this. I was going, 'Okay, I better go home and write a theme.' I started at 7:30 in the evening – I'm just exploding with ideas, except I'm starting to be so tight. So, the playing gets worse and worse. And it's just like my fingers aren't moving properly anymore, now it's 5 o'clock in the morning. So, that's sort of how that movie came about.

Zimmer recently composed the scores for 2017 hit films like Dunkirk and Blade Runner 2049, and he's currently working on the music for this year's Marvel team-up film, X-Men: Dark Phoenix.