Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) launched one of the most lucrative franchises in Disney Studios’ history. The movie, based on a theme park, offered Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp his most iconic role – that of Captain Jack Sparrow, pirate, swindler and braggart. His was a shrewd and calculating character, despite his constant drunken manner and over-the-top personality, a man who will willingly run away from a fight, preferring to end disputes verbally rather than physically.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) followed, the foursome earning over $3.7 billion globally and a fandom of millions.
It was inescapable that Depp and Sparrow would return to the high seas for another boisterous adventure. In Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge, Captain Jack has to face a frightening crew of ghost sailors, escapees from the Devil’s Triangle led by the terrifying Captain Salazar. Jack is in their sights.
He teams up with Carina Smyth, a brilliant and beautiful astronomer, and Henry, a headstrong young sailor in the Royal Navy in search of the Trident of Poseidon, a mysterious artefact.
That mix of adventure, action and comedy is what we’ve always loved about big American movies
For this latest instalment in the franchise, uber-producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney wanted a script that would develop the Pirates canon further while at the same time capturing the elements of action, adventure and comedy that have come to define the series. Screenwriter Jeff Nathanson was brought on board while the search for the perfect director ended when the filmmakers honed in on Norwegian directing team Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg – no strangers to ocean-set adventures following their 2012 Oscar-nominated account (partly filmed in Malta) of the famous Kon-Tiki expedition.
“It’s the kind of movie we grew up with and love,” Sandberg says of the Pirates series. “That mix of adventure, action and comedy is what we’ve always loved about big American movies.”
Says Rønning: “The Pirates films remind me about the kind of movies that inspired me to become a filmmaker when I was a kid. Now that I have kids of my own, it’s great to make a movie that they can watch too. It’s a true family movie. We knew that trying to do something original with the fifth installment was going to be a challenge, but that was important to us.”
Sandberg notes that the pair very much looked back to the first movie when they went into this. “It’s an amazing franchise, and a great responsibility for us. There are so many fans around the world, and we were fans as well watching the movies in Norway.”
Bruckheimer, Rønning and Sandberg brought together an award-winning international cast for the film. Joining Depp are returning Pirates alumni Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa, Kevin J. McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Stephen Graham as Scrum; Martin Klebba as Marty; Giles New and Angus Barnett as Murtogg and Mullroy, and Jack the Monkey, Barbossa’s beloved companion portrayed by the talented white-throated capuchin monkeys Pablo and Chiquita.
They are joined by Javier Bardem as the deadly Captain Salazar; Brenton Thwaites as Henry; Kaya Scodelario as Carina, Iranian-born Golshifteh Farahani as Shansa, and veteran Australian actor David Wenham as Scarfield.
“We wanted to make the best ‘Pirates’ movie ever,” says Rønning. “We wanted to create fun, spectacular action, an epic movie with a very strong emotional core, and great characters. We’ve been working hard now for years to get in the spirit of the first film, and at the same time make Salazar’s Revenge feel fresh and new. Now it’s up to the audience to see if we accomplished that.”
“We could only have dreamed when we did the first film that we were creating something that would have taken us this far,” remarks Bruckheimer. “It’s been such a privilege, and we owe it not only to the great artists and craftsmen on both sides of the camera who have worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean films, but to audiences around the world with whom these movies have struck such a chord.
“All we’ve ever really wanted to do is to entertain them, take them into a different world for a few hours, and little did we know that we would have brought them into that world for nearly 15 years.
“I guess it’s been a pirate’s life for all of us!”