The Plank
Day 1: Caribbean
Day 2: Charleston
Day 3: Carolina Coast
Day 4: Beaufort
Day 5: Bath
Day 6: Ocracoke

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Is there a Blackbeard movie in the future?

Earlier this year, so the stories go, Costner had expressed interest in doing a movie about Blackbeard.

Talk of such a project arose about the time state officials announced the discovery of what they believe is Blackbeard's ship off the North Carolina coast.

"That was just happenstance," says Betty McCain, secretary of the state Department of Cultural Resources. "We happened to announce it right when he was getting ready to come look."

McCain says Costner was working with film executives in Wilmington. The project was called "Ocracoke."

It would tell the story of Blackbeard's capture at Ocracoke Inlet at the hands of a Royal Navy contingent under the direction of Lt. Robert Maynard. Costner supposedly would play Maynard; Sean Connery got mentioned for the Blackbeard role.

From there, all kinds of stories -- most unfounded -- began to circulate. Some said casting had started; others said filming would begin soon.

So what's really going on?

"There's very little that we do know for certain," says Bill Arnold, director of the North Carolina Film Office. "There was a project called 'Ocracoke' some months ago that may not be current any more. These things come and go. Until we see something is real, we assume that it is not real."

But what role, if any, did Costner have in the project?

"It doesn't matter what names are connected with it," Arnold says. "Until it gets the green light ... it's all speculation."

Costner's publicist, Stephen Rivers, says he knows of no plans for his client to make a Blackbeard movie. But he did say he's seen Costner and Connery's names linked to the movie in a national showbiz column.

"I don't think there's anything to that," Rivers says. "These things take on a life of their own."