While in France, Polanski made "Tess". In September 1980 he announced he had signed a deal with Filmways to make "Pirates". In October Arnon Milchan announced he would produce the film, which would be shot in Tel Aviv the following year at a budget of $24 million. Milchan would build a studio there at a cost of $2.5 million, which would have a marine tank. The film would have no major names, as all the money would go into special effects and the set. Polanski called the film "a comedy adventure, in the style of 'Treasure Island' or that Disneyland pirate ride, the kind of thing you dream of as a child." Co-wroter Brach called it "a classical, stereotypical story, on which I worked very hard in order not to do something foolish."