80 Fun Facts About Pirates of the Caribbean

Which producer is behind the whole Pirates of the Caribbean film series?

Jerry Bruckheimer has produced every Pirates of the Caribbean film, turning a theme-park ride into a $4.5 billion franchise.

Who directed the first three films in the series?

Gore Verbinski directed The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, reviving a swashbuckler genre Hollywood had abandoned for decades.

Which director, best known for the musical Chicago, took over for On Stranger Tides?

Rob Marshall, the director of the Oscar-winning musical Chicago, took over On Stranger Tides (2011) after Gore Verbinski chose not to return.

Which screenwriting duo wrote the first four films?

Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio wrote the first four films; the duo had earlier co-written Disney's Aladdin and Treasure Planet.

Roughly how much has the franchise grossed worldwide across five films?

The five films have grossed over $4.5 billion worldwide; Dead Man's Chest and On Stranger Tides each passed $1 billion, a first for any film franchise.

Depp famously modelled Jack Sparrow on which rock musician?

After researching 18th-century pirates, Depp decided they were the rock stars of their day.

Which Looney Tunes character did Depp also cite as an influence on Jack Sparrow?

Depp named the cartoon skunk Pepé Le Pew, alongside Keith Richards, as an inspiration for Jack Sparrow's oblivious, self-assured swagger.

What did baffled Disney executives ask about Depp's performance when they first saw it?

Depp held his ground, and the performance ended up earning him his first Oscar nomination.

The screenwriter of the earliest drafts says he created Jack Sparrow with which actor in mind?

Stuart Beattie wrote his early drafts with Hugh Jackman in mind and named the character Jack after him; the role went to Johnny Depp.

Which comedian was considered for Jack Sparrow but was tied up filming Bruce Almighty?

Jim Carrey was considered for Jack Sparrow but was committed to Bruce Almighty (2003); Bruckheimer had pictured the role as 'a young Burt Lancaster'.

Which flop from 2002 made Disney's Michael Eisner try to shut the first Pirates film down?

After The Country Bears, another ride-based film, flopped in 2002, Michael Eisner tried to halt Pirates, asking why it had to cost so much; Bruckheimer's concept art won him over.

Which actor was first choice for the Black Pearl's mutinous captain but declined, expecting a flop?

Robert De Niro turned down Barbossa because he expected the film to flop; Geoffrey Rush took the part, and De Niro later played a pirate captain in Stardust (2007).

Who plays blacksmith Will Turner?

Orlando Bloom plays Will Turner; fresh from The Lord of the Rings, he read the script after Geoffrey Rush, his Ned Kelly co-star, suggested it.

Keira Knightley's character is the daughter of what official in Port Royal?

Elizabeth Swann is the daughter of Governor Weatherby Swann, the Crown's governor of Port Royal, who promotes Norrington to commodore and hopes she will marry him.

Port Royal, the film's setting, is on which real island?

Port Royal sits on Jamaica's south coast; the real town was a notorious pirate haven until an earthquake sank much of it in 1692.

How many pieces of cursed Aztec gold are in the chest on Isla de Muerta?

Barbossa recites that the stone chest held 882 identical pieces of Aztec gold; the curse lifts only when all 882 are returned and the blood debt repaid.

The cursed gold was originally paid to which conquistador?

Barbossa recounts that the Aztecs paid the gold to Hernán Cortés to stem his slaughter; when his greed went unsated, the heathen gods cursed it.

Which navy ship do Jack and Will steal from Port Royal?

On screen it was a re-dressed Lady Washington, a replica tall ship that sailed 40 days from Washington state to reach the set.

Which real replica sailing ship was re-dressed to play the navy vessel Jack and Will steal?

The brig Lady Washington, a replica homeported in Aberdeen, Washington, was repainted to play HMS Interceptor and sailed to the Caribbean location for the shoot.

The Curse of the Black Pearl was the first Disney-branded film to receive which MPAA rating?

The Curse of the Black Pearl was the first film under the Walt Disney Pictures banner rated PG-13, for action/adventure violence; every sequel has carried the same rating.

Where was most of the first film's location shooting done?

Most location work was done in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where the crew built three piers and a backlot at Wallilabou Bay for Port Royal and Tortuga.

Who is credited as composer of the first film's score?

Klaus Badelt is credited for the first film's score; Hans Zimmer, contractually tied to The Last Samurai, oversaw it uncredited and then scored the next three sequels himself.

Which prize did Depp win for playing Jack Sparrow in the first film?

Depp won the Screen Actors Guild Award for lead actor for Jack Sparrow; he was nominated for the Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA but won none of them.

What unusual body part does the pirate Ragetti keep losing?

Mackenzie Crook wore two different contact lenses for it: a soft one and a harder one for when it protrudes.

Who takes a coin from the cursed chest in the first film's post-credits scene?

The capuchin, named Jack after Sparrow, becomes undead again and stays that way for the rest of the series.

Complete Jack Sparrow's lament: 'Why is the ... gone?'

Elizabeth burned it, along with the shade, to send up a signal fire from the island.

How does Jack answer Norrington's jibe that he is the worst pirate he knows of?

'But you have heard of me,' Jack answers, before his signature line about the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow.

According to the captain of the cursed Black Pearl, the pirate's Code is more what you'd call ...

He also points out that you have to be a pirate for the Code to apply, and Elizabeth is not.

Which one-word question does Jack Sparrow habitually tack onto the end of his sentences?

'Savvy?' is Jack's verbal tic; he uses it when telling Will he cannot crew a ship 'all by me onesie'.

Where do Jack and Will go to recruit a crew, meeting Joshamee Gibbs?

Tortuga is where Jack and Will find Gibbs asleep among the pigs; the real island off Hispaniola was a lawless buccaneer haven in the 1600s.

Who plays the Flying Dutchman's tentacled captain in Dead Man's Chest?

Bill Nighy plays Davy Jones; he acted in a motion-capture tracksuit with facial markers, and ILM built the tentacled face digitally over his performance.

What accent does Davy Jones speak with in Dead Man's Chest?

Davy Jones speaks with a Scottish accent; the actor said he wanted 'an accent no one else had' among the cast.

Which member of the Flying Dutchman's crew was played by a real actor in make-up rather than CGI?

Bootstrap Bill Turner was the one Dutchman crewman done in prosthetic make-up, on Stellan Skarsgård; his barnacled shipmates were computer-generated over motion-capture performers.

What did Jack receive from the Dutchman's captain in exchange for a debt of 100 years of service?

Davy Jones raised the Black Pearl from the depths for Jack, who got 13 years as her captain; when the bill came due, Bootstrap delivered the Black Spot.

What is the name of the obeah priestess played by Naomie Harris?

Harris filmed all her scenes at weekends while shooting Miami Vice during the week.

Lord Cutler Beckett is chairman of which organisation?

The East India Trading Company's Lord Cutler Beckett, played by Tom Hollander, crashes the wedding with arrest warrants in hand.

In what game does Will learn that the Dutchman's captain holds the key to the chest?

Will challenges Davy Jones to Liar's Dice, wagering a lifetime of service, and Jones gives away that the key hangs at his chest; Bootstrap then deliberately loses to spare his son.

The cannibal-island scenes in Dead Man's Chest were shot on which Caribbean island?

The Pelegostos cannibal-island scenes were shot on Dominica, whose small government was unprepared for a 500-strong film crew taking over most of its roads.

What was the only Academy Award Dead Man's Chest won?

Dead Man's Chest won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, its only win from four nominations; the same ILM work also took the BAFTA for visual effects.

How quickly did Dead Man's Chest reach $1 billion worldwide, a record at the time?

Dead Man's Chest crossed $1 billion worldwide in 63 days, the fastest ever at that point; it was only the third film to reach the mark, after Titanic and The Return of the King.

What was Dead Man's Chest's record-setting US opening weekend gross?

Dead Man's Chest opened to $136 million in the US, a record at the time, and finished as 2006's top-grossing film and the series' biggest at about $1.07 billion.

What was used for the moment the Kraken spits on Jack Sparrow?

The Kraken's spray was done for real, with slime thrown over Depp on set, while the creature itself was ILM computer animation.

How is the resurrected captain of the Black Pearl reintroduced at the end of Dead Man's Chest?

His first-film wish had been to taste an apple again once the curse was lifted.

At World's End had what production budget, the biggest ever at the time?

At World's End's $300 million budget was the largest ever at the time; it grossed about $960 million worldwide, the top earner of 2007.

Which Hong Kong star plays Pirate Lord Sao Feng?

Chow Yun-fat plays Sao Feng, Pirate Lord of the South China Sea; mainland China's censors cut about ten minutes of his scenes as stereotyping.

Which ship serves as Lord Cutler Beckett's flagship in At World's End?

Beckett commands HMS Endeavour; when the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman turn their broadsides on her together, he walks down her stairs in a daze as she explodes.

How many Pirate Lords convene the Brethren Court at Shipwreck Cove?

Nine Pirate Lords, each holding a 'piece of eight', make up the Brethren Court; they are summoned by condemned prisoners singing 'Hoist the Colours', whose music Verbinski co-wrote with Hans Zimmer.

Who becomes Pirate King in At World's End?

Elizabeth Swann is elected Pirate King when Jack, breaking the lords' habit of voting for themselves, casts his vote for her; only a King can declare war.

Which sea goddess did the first Brethren Court bind in human form?

Calypso was bound in human form by the first Brethren Court, who learned how from her lover Davy Jones after she failed to meet him when his ten years at sea were up.

Once Will becomes captain of the Dutchman, how long may he spend ashore before ten years at sea?

Will gets one day ashore for every ten years at sea; he leaves Elizabeth the chest with his heart, and the post-credits scene jumps a decade to show her waiting with their son.

On Stranger Tides was loosely based on a 1987 novel by which author?

The writers discovered the book while making the second and third films and borrowed Blackbeard, the Fountain of Youth and mermaids from it.

Who plays Blackbeard in On Stranger Tides?

Ian McShane plays Blackbeard, captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge, whose magic sword controls the ship's rigging and whose crew are zombies.

What did the costume department have to accommodate for Penélope Cruz during On Stranger Tides?

Her sister Mónica doubled for her in risky scenes; her husband later played the villain in the next film.

The Fountain of Youth ritual needs two silver chalices from the ship of which explorer?

The chalices came from Ponce de León's ship, the Santiago, found perched on a cliff, but the Spanish had already taken them.

Which Dame has a carriage cameo opposite Jack Sparrow in On Stranger Tides?

Dame Judi Dench has a seconds-long cameo as a society lady whose carriage Jack tumbles into while fleeing through London; he leaves with her earring.

What ship does Geoffrey Rush's character captain as a privateer in On Stranger Tides?

Geoffrey Rush's captain, now a privateer for King George II, sails HMS Providence; he has a peg leg after cutting off his own leg to escape Blackbeard's seizure of the Pearl.

Which US state hosted On Stranger Tides' tropical location shoot?

On Stranger Tides shot its tropical scenes in Hawaii, on Oahu and Kauai, whose jungles stood in for the approach to the Fountain of Youth.

Under what alternative title was the fifth film released in the UK and Australia?

Dead Men Tell No Tales was retitled Salazar's Revenge in the UK, Australia and parts of Europe; the directors said nobody had told them about the change.

Who plays the ghostly Captain Armando Salazar?

Javier Bardem plays Salazar, the undead Spanish captain hunting Jack after being trapped in the Devil's Triangle; Bardem built him on 'a rage based on dented pride'.

Carina Smyth is sentenced to death for witchcraft because of which profession?

Carina Smyth is an astronomer who reads the stars to find Poseidon's Trident; a woman practising science gets her condemned as a witch.

Which pirate is revealed to be Carina's father?

Barbossa realises he is Carina's father when he recognises the ruby-studded diary he left with her as a baby; he dies at the climax saving her from Salazar.

Which Beatle appears as Jack Sparrow's Uncle Jack in Dead Men Tell No Tales?

Paul McCartney cameos as Uncle Jack, a jailed pirate singing 'Maggie Mae'; Depp brought him in after Keith Richards, Jack's screen father, was unavailable.

Where was Dead Men Tell No Tales filmed in its entirety?

Dead Men Tell No Tales was shot entirely in Queensland, Australia, around Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast; a $20 million government incentive made it the largest production then filmed in the country.

Whose silhouette in the fifth film's post-credits scene surprised even the actor who played him?

A silhouette of Davy Jones looms over the sleeping Will and Elizabeth in the post-credits scene; Bill Nighy said nobody had told him the character was returning.

Who plays Henry Turner, son of Will and Elizabeth, in the fifth film?

Brenton Thwaites, an Australian, plays Henry Turner; Taron Egerton, Ansel Elgort and George MacKay were among the others who tested for the part.

In what year did the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride open at Disneyland?

Pirates of the Caribbean opened at Disneyland on 18 March 1967, three months after Walt Disney's death; it was the last attraction he personally helped design.

What was the Disneyland attraction originally planned to be?

It was conceived as a walk-through wax museum beneath New Orleans Square; the boat-ride format was adopted after It's a Small World proved a hit at the 1964 World's Fair.

What is the name of the pirate galleon that bombards the fort in the ride?

The galleon Wicked Wench bombards the fort; her original captain was voiced by Paul Frees, who voiced many of the ride's pirates, and the 2006 refit recast him as Barbossa.

Which Imagineer designed the chess-playing skeletons gag for the Magic Kingdom version?

Marc Davis, one of Walt's Nine Old Men animators turned Imagineer, designed the chess-playing skeletons and laid out their board so the game could never end.

Which Disney park got a completely different ride, 'Battle for the Sunken Treasure', in 2016?

Shanghai Disneyland opened with Battle for the Sunken Treasure in June 2016, a film-based ride featuring Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones rather than the classic boat trip.

In the ride's updated auction scene, what has the famous redhead become?

The original 'Take a Wench for a Bride' auction was rewritten at Disneyland, Paris and the Magic Kingdom.

Which Norwegian directing duo helmed Dead Men Tell No Tales?

Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg were reportedly picked in May 2013 and confirmed the title that August; it alludes to a line from the theme-park ride.

Who wrote the screenplay for the fifth film after Terry Rossio's draft was discarded?

Jeff Nathanson wrote Dead Men Tell No Tales, with Terry Rossio keeping a story credit; Nathanson had earlier written Catch Me If You Can for Spielberg.

Rossio said his fifth-film script was dropped partly because Depp feared its female villain would echo which film?

Rossio said Depp worried a female villain would echo Dark Shadows (2012), his Tim Burton film with Eva Green's witch; Rossio later posted the unused script, footnoted, on his site Wordplay.

Who plays Governor Weatherby Swann, an actor Depp is said to have idolised?

Tom Wilkinson was among several actors negotiated with for the part before it went to Pryce.

In North America in 2003, The Curse of the Black Pearl was outgrossed by which two films?

Only The Return of the King and Finding Nemo beat it in North America that year; worldwide it was fourth, also trailing The Matrix Reloaded.

At World's End set which North American box-office record on release?

The Memorial Day weekend record went to At World's End; Dead Man's Chest had taken the opening-weekend record, and On Stranger Tides the same record outside North America.

The original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy collected 11 Academy Award nominations between them; how many awards did the films win?

One Oscar from 11 nominations: Dead Man's Chest's Best Visual Effects win; The Curse of the Black Pearl went 0 for 5 and At World's End 0 for 2.

Who plays the mermaid Syrena in On Stranger Tides?

Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey, a French-Spanish actress, plays the mermaid Syrena, who falls for Sam Claflin's missionary Philip Swift.

Which actor plays Jack Sparrow's first mate Joshamee Gibbs?

Kevin McNally plays Joshamee Gibbs in all five films; Gibbs first appears as a Royal Navy sailor aboard the Dauntless before turning pirate.