VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Pirates sat colluding one night last week in a cramped booth against the back wall of the Green Parrot Grille.

Their captain leaned over the table speaking — nay, growling — his lines at the newest recruit to his corsair crew in that balmy barroom while a boom mike dangled above his head.

The air conditioning was off, as to not affect sound quality on the movie set.

“The Pirate King,” written and directed by Virginia Beach native turned Hollywood up-and-comer Josh Plasse, wrapped up its 18-day shoot in Hampton Roads early Thursday morning.

Plasse, 32, the son of a Navy SEAL, now splits his time between Los Angeles and Nashville, Tennessee. He called his new film a “love letter” to his hometown: Virginia Beach.

The movie stars Rob Riggle, who portrays a Marine veteran struggling with alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder after a tour in Kabul. Back stateside, the character is in a custody battle with his ex-wife at the start of the drama-comedy.

Searching for ways to better connect with his daughter, he joins a group of pirate reenactors while battling the allure of becoming an actual pirate at the behest of the group’s leader, played by Matt Barr.

While not the type of blockbuster produced by the likes of Warner Bros. or Universal Pictures that lands at every major chain theater across the country, “The Pirate King” has financial backing on par with many well-respected independent films.

Three production companies are behind the project: Morning Moon Productions, Pine Bay Pictures and Traction.

“The Pirate King” was filmed on a roughly $2 million budget, according to producer and Traction co-founder Zak Kristofek.

Its cast includes several notable names.

Riggle, a retired Marine Corps Reserve lieutenant colonel, was a “Saturday Night Live” featured cast member during the 2004-05 season and joined Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” as a correspondent in 2006. He’s appeared in movies such as “Step Brothers” in 2008, “The Hangover” in 2009 and “The Other Guys” in 2010.

Barr starred alongside Kate Upton and Alexandra Daddario in William H. Macy’s “The Layover” and appeared in the 2012 TV miniseries “Hatfields & McCoys.”

Female lead Jordana Brewster was a lead for the “Fast & Furious” franchise.

Plasse said “The Pirate King” was filmed completely at Hampton Roads locations, including:

—Chick’s Oyster Bar in Virginia Beach

—Sandbridge Beach in Virginia Beach

—A courthouse in Norfolk

—Watermen’s Museum in Yorktown

—The King Neptune statue at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront

On Thursday, Plasse zipped around the Green Parrot Grille like an Olympian speed walker, racing to speak to his actors, give instructions to lighting and sound coordinators and review scenes on monitors before hustling outside where over 50 crew members, extras and real-life pirate reenactors sipped from water bottles while chatting and waiting for their turn into front of the cameras.

He said in an interview that he wants perfection.

Growing up in Hampton Roads, he’s seen the effects of PTSD and holds the highest respect for military veterans. He wants his film to honor veterans and entertain with humor. The screenplay is partially based on the life of his uncle, Army veteran Todd Willis, who lives and works in Virginia Beach as a pirate reenactor.

Growing up, Plasse never imagined he’d be putting his uncle’s eccentricities on screen.

As a teenager, Plasse was an athlete with little interest in the drama club. He was a boxer and played quarterback for Cox High School, where he graduated in 2012. That same year, he won the North Carolina/Virginia Golden Gloves Championships and enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University with plans to join its ROTC and follow in his father’s footsteps into military service.

But midway through his freshman year, Plasse was miserable.

“I was a bit too serious in my life,” he said.

One day, he asked his roommate: “Dude, why are you always so happy?”

His reply, Plasse recalled: “Well, I’ll be honest, my friend — it’s the theater.”

A professor agreed to give Plasse free acting classes on the condition that he, the muscle-bound uber-cool guy, “open up” and “make a fool” of himself by walking into a local gaming store next to VCU’s sorority row and playing Dungeons & Dragons “in front of everyone.”

He did. And it turned out, he was a natural actor, landing multiple local commercials within his first few months of regional showbiz. At the end of the semester, Plasse moved to California to chase his new dream.

Since then, he’s been on over 50 TV episodes, including appearances on “American Horror Story,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Criminal Minds.” He’s produced and written three movies. “The Pirate King” is his directorial debut.

“I truly believe that Josh Plasse is someone who is going to make a really big splash in this industry, and he already is,” said Ethan Lazar, a producer and CEO of Morning Moon Productions. “He’s homegrown talent.”

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