“When three films together bring in $2.6 billion dollars worldwide, you understand pretty quickly that a message is being sent to you by audiences,” notes Producer Jerry Bruckheimer of the international response to the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, subtitled “The Curse of the Black Pearl” (2003), “Dead Man’s Chest” (2005) and “At World’s End” (2007).

“The numbers are wonderful,” Bruckheimer continues, “but what’s even better is that they tell you something of what these films have meant to moviegoers. Audiences fell in love with the pirate genre all over again after an absence of some three decades, and they certainly fell head over heels for Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow! There are more adventures for Captain Jack to take on, and our screenwriters, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, had already created a whole world to explore.”

And exploring that world is just what the audience will do when they travel with Captain Jack on his action-packed journey to the legendary Fountain of Youth. When Jack crosses paths (and swords) with the enigmatic Angelica (Penélope Cruz), a ravishing pirate with whom he shares a dubious past, she forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship belonging to the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane).

Finding himself a prisoner on an unexpected journey to the fabled fountain, Jack must use all his wiles to deal with the barbarous Blackbeard and his crew of zombies, Angelica, who can—and will—match him wit for wit and sword for sword, and beautiful, enchanting mermaids whose masterful cunning can lure even the most seasoned sailor to his doom.

Johnny Depp, who had fallen unabashedly in love with the character of Captain Jack Sparrow over the course of the first three films, was certainly game for another new adventure. “The idea of a fourth one after finishing ‘Pirates 3’ was somewhere in the back of your head, thinking, ‘I sure hope so,’” notes Depp.

“When you’re done playing Captain Jack, there’s a real decompression getting out of that skin, because I like being in that skin,’ says Depp. “There’s a great comfort in playing Captain Jack, because you have license to be completely irreverent, completely subversive, absolutely abstract in all situations. I know him so well that it just comes naturally.” Depp adds, “I was very happy with the work that Ted and Terry did on the screenplay for ‘On Stranger Tides.’ It was like the gates were reopened and it was all fresh. It really felt closer in spirit to the first film, getting from Point A to Point D to Point Z without too many subplots and complications.”

Depp was also enthusiastic to work for a fourth time with Jerry Bruckheimer, who had guarded the actor’s wholly original vision of Captain Jack Sparrow when the first film began to shoot. “We wouldn’t have been able to get away with a third of what we got away with on ‘Pirates 1’ without Jerry Bruckheimer,” states the actor. “Without Jerry’s support, and his understanding of the material, saying, ‘Okay, I know that some people are scared but this sure seems funny to me, why don’t we go with it,’ the first film would have been much more generic, not much fun, and I would have been fired!

“Jerry knows these films well,” continues Depp. “I’ve been in umpteen script meetings with the guy, and never a false note comes up; he always comes up with something interesting. And if you’re in a pinch, he’s always the guy who says, ‘Don’t worry about it; we’ll get it taken care of.’ Jerry really produces; he’s untamed all the time and allows us to be in an atmosphere that’s conducive to making something interesting and different. There have never been pressures in that regard; it’s always sort of, you know, ‘Bruckheimer’s got it.’ You know he’s handling it. It’s cool.”

Bruckheimer notes, “At this point, Johnny is the most popular actor in the world, one of the best actors in the world, and certainly the most committed and hard-working. He’s somebody you love working with, because every day, he comes on the set with a smile, ready to go to work and have a great time, yet work very hard.”

When it came to finding a director for “On Stranger Tides,” both Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp found themselves in complete agreement with whom that should be: Rob Marshall, who had directed “Chicago,” an Academy Award® winner for Best Picture of the Year, followed by the greatly ambitious “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Nine.” “Rob is a filmmaker unafraid to take on the biggest challenges and take real risks,” says Bruckheimer. “What’s more, his background in musical theater and film and choreography were huge benefits to direct a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie. You need somebody who can stage huge action and understands movement. Rob is also a wonderful storyteller, and he’s got impeccable taste.”

Johnny Depp had a very short list of directors with whom he was willing to work on the fourth “Pirates” opus. “You know, having done ‘Pirates’ one through three with Gore Verbinski, and Gore not being available for ‘Pirates 4’ because of his commitment to ‘Rango,’ made for quite a large dilemma initially,” notes Depp.

“Certain names were mentioned,” says Depp, “and when Rob’s name came up I thought, ‘That’s got to be it. Let’s just hope he’s a nice guy.’ I’ve seen all of his films and he’s got a great sensibility. He’s got a great and unique approach to characters; his aesthetic sense is magnificent and his timing is perfect. So we sat down and talked, and from the first second I knew he was the guy. I just knew it.

“I don’t think there’s anyone better who could have come in and followed Gore. Rob’s approach was very respectful of what Gore built in the first three films but at the same time he has his own signature. He gave it a very new angle; he brought a brand-new pair of eyes and a fresh look.”

Rob Marshall is a real force in contemporary American film whose onset style has been accurately described as “iron covered in velvet.” The highly acclaimed director’s first three films “Chicago,” “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Nine” garnered a total of 23 Oscar® nominations, and Marshall says taking the helm for the fourth film in the hugely successful “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise felt like a perfect fit.

“I’ve always wanted to do a classic adventure film,” he says. “I think some initially thought that it’s a departure from what I do, but for me it’s not really; it’s more of an extension, specifically because ‘action’ in general is a kind of choreography.

“The action in ‘Pirates,’ like dance, is choreographed within an inch of its life. To make action sequences work, they are put together carefully like a detailed mosaic and that’s very similar with dance. The action must contain story and develop character.”

Marshall was also excited about the prospects of working with the man who had given the Pirates of the Caribbean films their very heart and soul: Johnny Depp. “Many people have said to me over the years ‘you guys would be a great fit, a great match and you would love working with him and he would love working with you.’

“So when I was asked about ‘Pirates,’ the first thing that came to my mind was, ‘What a great opportunity it would be to be able to work with Johnny.’ Johnny is this extraordinary person because not only is he a genius and a creative force, but he is also such a kind, thoughtful and elegant man.

“I really feel that he’s a throwback to another time. The man comes on set and shakes hands with everyone. He takes the time to make sure that everybody on set is happy,”

Marshall adds. “He has a strong work ethic, but he’s also so much fun; he’s hilarious and we laughed all the time. You know, it’s a grueling schedule we’re on; we were moving quickly and we had an enormous amount to accomplish with huge set-ups, but it was so joyous because of him, I have to say.”

“Right off the bat Rob knew how to keep it lean,” notes Johnny Depp. “I knew what he would use and what he wouldn’t. He’s incredibly efficient, saying ‘Let’s stay to the heart of the story and have fun while we’re doing it.’”

“Johnny and Rob got along instantly and the relationship only got better through the course of the film,” observes Executive Producer John DeLuca. “They were both always happy to be in each other’s company on set; they found that kindred spirit in each other.”

Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the acclaimed team, which even previous to the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” film had already written such contemporary classics as “Aladdin” and “Shrek,” dug ever deeper into the treasure chest of pirate and seagoing history, lore and mythology for “On Stranger Tides” with the assistance of the much-admired novel of the same title by Tim Powers, from which suggestions for the story arose. “The main guideline was to create a stand-alone story rather than a continuation of the trilogy, or the start of a new one,” notes Rossio. “And then of course the Tim Powers book, ‘On Stranger Tides,’ was a huge inspiration for characters, theme, settings, and basic storyline.”

In writing the screenplay for “On Stranger Tides,” Elliott and Rossio relied on their own instincts first and foremost, but were also careful to consider the first three films’ huge worldwide audience as well. Rossio in particular is noted for engaging in online dialogue with movie fans through his own accessible website. “It was valuable to track the fan base to see how they reacted to various announcements regarding the film,” says Rossio. “And I personally get energized in the designing and writing of the films, knowing how much the fans care, and knowing that if there is something ambitious or nuanced in the films, the fans are going to spot it and appreciate it.”

Indeed, the first three movies had created nothing less than a pop-culture groundswell of “Pirates of the Caribbean” mania, as evidenced not only by the films’ massive box-office take, but even more so by the growing number of audience members donning pirate garb at the cinemas (not to mention at Halloween)—whether attired as Captain Jack, as other characters from the films, or in their own design—and a huge upswing in “Argghhhhh”- style pirate speak for nearly any and every occasion.

With the stories of both Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) resolved in ‘At World’s End,’ Elliott and Rossio sought to create new characters while retaining some of the franchise favorites, particularly Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin R. McNally) and, of course, Captain Jack Sparrow. Tim Powers’ novel included the legendary Blackbeard, most feared of all pirates, as a primary character, and a better villain for the film could hardly be invented. A new female protagonist was created in Angelica, a woman who can match Captain Jack blow for blow. “It was especially fun to put Jack up against Angelica,” says Terry Rossio, “as Jack had not yet faced off with a woman who was completely against him and his equal in terms of selfishness and cunning.”

Elliott and Rossio wrote in close collaboration with Jerry Bruckheimer, Rob Marshall, Johnny Depp and Bruckheimer’s production heads, Executive Producers Mike Stenson and Chad Oman. “Johnny was instrumental in the design of ‘On Stranger Tides,’” informs Terry Rossio, “from the story through to character design, settings, themes and, of course, lines of dialogue. We wouldn’t have the screenplay we have without Depp. He knows the Jack Sparrow character so well, you want to listen to every instinct and idea he has, large or small. I imagine the Jack Sparrow character, but Johnny lives him.”

Depp himself thoroughly enjoyed engaging his creative partners in conjuring up the story of the film. “Basically, it’s like going into a think tank and just kind of throwing ideas around,” Depp says. “If something sparks, it sparks, and if they accept it, they accept it. And luckily, thankfully, they did, hopefully for the better. They were very receptive to make the film different and to keep it very fresh, as opposed to just, well, here comes another sequel.”

“We had a fairly short development period on the script, so we wanted to get Johnny’s input as quickly as possible,” says Executive Producer Mike Stenson. “He came up with some great ideas, including the one of making Philip a missionary. He has a lot of great instincts about what works and what doesn’t.”

Jerry Bruckheimer, Rob Marshall, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio all knew the great benefits of developing new characters and continuing the arcs of pre-existing ones, but what was clear from the get-go was that Captain Jack Sparrow would remain, as ever, the once and future Captain Jack Sparrow.

“Well, you know,” adds Rossio, “Jack Sparrow is one of those characters who doesn’t change; the audience doesn’t want him to change, and I don’t want him to change. Instead, he affects change in the characters around him.”

Indeed, that aspect of the film was just one of the lures for Penélope Cruz, an Academy Award–winning star of international repute, as well as the notion of reuniting with Johnny Depp, with whom she had previously appeared in “Blow” some years ago. And it didn’t hurt that Cruz was already an admirer of the entire franchise. “I’m a very big fan of the first three movies,” she confesses, “and of what Johnny did in those movies. This is a great adventure for any actor to be a part of. It’s an adventure every day; you can never be bored.”

Marshall had worked with Penélope Cruz before, on “Nine” in 2009, and they have become close friends. He admits that when he first mentioned the idea to Cruz of taking the role of Angelica in “On Stranger Tides,” he wasn’t sure how the Oscar®-winning actress would react.

“I saw Penélope in that role immediately,” he says. “I couldn’t think of anybody else. It had to be an actress who could go toe-to-toe with Johnny and match him on every level. There had to be a sensuality to the character; there had to be humor, strength—a female pirate who is as smart, crafty and as clever as Jack Sparrow. Angelica needed to be all those things and, honestly, Penélope was the only choice.

“I remember asking Penélope when we were in a restaurant in London,” says Marshall. “John DeLuca, executive producer, and I took her to dinner and I didn’t bring it up until the end of the meal and I kept thinking, ‘I wonder whether she will be interested…’ And I tentatively said, ‘Penélope, would you ever be interested in the idea of doing “Pirates”…’ and I didn’t even finish the words. She jumped up—in the restaurant—and screamed, ‘I would love to!’

“You see this with great actors; they want variety in their careers and they don’t want to play the same thing over and over. She was so thrilled, as I was, at the idea of doing a classic pirate adventure, a film that’s for families as well as everyone else. This was something completely different for her, and she embraced it,” says Marshall.

For Cruz, it was a reunion with both Depp and Rob Marshall, who directed her in “Nine,” for which she received an Academy Award® nomination. “Two of the greatest experiences I’ve had working with people in this industry were with Johnny and Rob,” says Cruz. “Rob can handle huge amounts of pressure and always be a gentleman to everybody. He’s a very special human being, and I think anyone you ask will tell you the same thing. Johnny and I really loved working together 10 years ago, and I’m so happy to be around him again. He’s so humble, smart and one of the funniest people I know. His talent is incredible, and he’s another gentleman, like Rob. The more you work in this business, you just want to be around nice people, and they are on the top of the list for that.”

“Angelica had a relationship in the past with Jack Sparrow, but he betrayed her and broke her heart,” explains Cruz. “Now she enjoys looking for revenge. I think she’s still in love with him, but she cannot admit it, not even to herself, that she still has these feelings. Angelica has the mind of a pirate, the daughter of the biggest and most dangerous pirate of all time, and she’s a great manipulator, a great liar and a great actress in life. She can really trick people, but she’s a very clean soul with a good heart. Her main purpose in life is to try and help her father. Angelica has hope that she can save him, repair all the damage that he’s done. And she needs Jack Sparrow, as he needs her, to get to the Fountain of Youth, where Angelica hopes to save her father’s soul.”

“It’s a kind of fevered love which is also beyond hatred,” says Johnny Depp of Captain Jack and Angelica’s relationship. Notes Geoffrey Rush, “Having Penélope on the film is absolutely fantastic, because I’ve always felt that it would be great for there to be a wild, erratic, deeply attractive, sexy female pirate that’s Jack Sparrow’s match. She’s fiery, very feisty and very precise in her work.”

For the challenging role of history’s most notorious pirate, Bruckheimer and Marshall turned to an actor whose remarkable career in film and television—which has now spanned nearly 50 years—has been hotter than ever since his thunderously acclaimed performance as Al Swearengen in HBO’s western series “Deadwood.” “Ian McShane is a consummate actor,” notes Jerry Bruckheimer. “He’s brilliant and he’s done it all. He’s won all kinds of accolades for his acting ability, and that makes it so much more fun for a director and for an audience to see people who are the best at their craft.”

Adds Marshall, “Johnny Depp, Jerry Bruckheimer and I sat down with a large list of actors, and when we went through the list and we got to Ian McShane, it was immediately clear that he was Blackbeard. He can play something evil, but there’s always humor behind it as well. He just has his own fresh take on things.”

“Blackbeard is probably the most infamous pirate who ever lived,” notes McShane. “There’s a legion of stories about him, and whether they’re true or not, he’s now part of pirate mythology. I was impressed by the script, which is very funny and charming.”

McShane was also keen to work with Rob Marshall, noting that “I think the phrase to describe Rob would be ‘charmingly relentless,’ which is a great quality if you’re directing a huge movie like this. Rob has a steely determination combined with an honest, personal charm, which is great.”

“The beauty of the character of Blackbeard,” reflects Johnny Depp on Captain Jack’s nemesis in ‘On Stranger Tides,’ “is that, on the surface, he seems to be a rational man. But then, the more you get to know him, the more you realize he’s a stone-cold killer without an ounce of heart. He would screw over anyone and everyone to get to his objective, which is what makes him so dangerous. And I don’t think there’s a better choice than Ian McShane, certainly, to play him.”

Penélope Cruz was anxious to explore the very unorthodox father-daughter dynamic between Blackbeard and Angelica. “Angelica doesn’t want to admit that she cannot trust her father. “She cannot confront that, she cannot accept it. It’s too painful for her, so she keeps finding justifications for everything he does. She keeps fighting him so that he would stop killing. She wants to give him a chance to change and keeps fighting for that. Her mission is to change her father, and she cannot confront the fact that she can’t trust him.”

Returning for the fourth time as Hector Barbossa is Geoffrey Rush, who in the previous “Pirates” films had created one of the most wickedly beloved characters of the series. “I was very excited when I heard that there was going to be a fourth film because I love working with Johnny,” says Rush. “I find the Jack Sparrow-Barbossa ongoing conflict very delightful to engage in. And Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio seem to constantly come up with something new. You know, I thought that after the first three—in which they’d explored every possibility from the world of swashbuckling, including buried treasure, the Aztec curse, and big, Wagnerian dimensions of sea monsters, gods and goddesses, and the East India Trading Company—that there would be nothing else left about the Golden Age of Piracy, or the mythology associated around it, for them to write about. But I hadn’t thought about Blackbeard… or mermaids!

“The other thing that is very pleasing to me as an actor,” continues Rush, “is that Barbossa has been increasingly revealed in each successive film. And in ‘On Stranger Tides,’ by the very fact that, deep in his nature, Barbossa is a very calculating survivor, he’s got himself onto what he thinks is a very satisfying pension plan: because he’s not getting any younger, he’s joined forces with King George and has become a privateer. In the third film, he had already revealed more of his devious, self-serving politician-type qualities, and not just being a mangy, old pirate.”

“Even when Captain Jack and Barbossa are on the same side,” notes Johnny Depp, “they’re always on opposite sides somehow. I always felt like these two characters bicker like a couple of old housewives at a bridge club, just picking each other apart by the tiniest little morsel and detail. That’s how Geoffrey and I have approached it from day one, and he’s most definitely a worthy opponent. Geoffrey is a fantastic actor, who’s constantly investigating the possibilities of a scene. It’s always fresh, always new, always interesting with Geoffrey.”

Geoffrey Rush adds, “Let’s just say that Jack and Barbossa think of themselves as an old married couple. If these two could actually collaborate and not lock horns all the time, they would be the most fantastic, unstoppable team. But they’re worlds apart because Barbossa is purely a strategic thinker, but not the brightest person, I should think. Jack bobs along the river of life, improvising, taking huge daring risks which always pay off for him, even if he’s being blown from one ship to another. He always lands and ends up looking like Bugs Bunny leaning against the mast. And it will ever thus be so, so that’s a really fantastic actorial dynamic to engage with.”

Also returning to the “Pirates” fold, as classic sea salt Joshamee Gibbs, is Kevin R. McNally, now a veteran of all four “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. “When they came and asked me to do another ‘Pirates’ film,” McNally confesses, “I was surprised, because all those years ago when we started, I never, for a moment, thought we’d still be making them! It’s a real thrill, because it’s very rare in features that you get a chance to revisit characters and have a look at them again, particularly when you’ve got writers who are very keen to bring out some new aspects to the characters and not just trot out the same stuff time and again. It’s a wonderful, exciting plot that Mr. Gibbs is involved with from the beginning, which is really enjoyable.”

To portray the two younger leads of the story—the beautiful and enigmatic mermaid Syrena and stalwart missionary Philip Swift—Bruckheimer and Marshall, along with U.S. Casting Director Francine Maisler and U.K. Casting Directors Lucy Bevan and Susie Figgis, embarked on a classic worldwide talent search. Selected from thousands of candidates were France’s Astrid Bergès- Frisbey and England’s Sam Claflin, both in their early 20s and with some experience in their respective countries (Bergès-Frisbey, of French/Spanish parentage, had appeared in films both in France and Spain), but as yet unproven on an international level.

“That was a real search because we were looking for fresh faces— new, young actors,” Marshall says. “We looked everywhere. We saw candidates in Europe and in the States too. It was a long process, involving hundreds of actors. But as it came down to the final few, it became pretty clear who stood out. Sam is a marvelous actor and handsome as well, but he’s also so fully rounded—he has humor, is as charming as can be, and is incredibly physical too; he’s actually a really good football [soccer] player. Astrid is playing a mysterious mermaid in the film, and we were looking for someone otherworldly. We saw that immediately in Astrid—she had this ethereal quality. She is incredibly grounded and very true, and so beautiful as well. And when we finally put the two of them together, we knew it was right.”

Adds Jerry Bruckheimer, who knows a thing or two about discovering new talent, “Astrid had already done some wonderful work in both French and Spanish films, and has a radiant beauty and is very soulful as well. Sam was a very recent drama-school graduate in London, classically trained, very handsome, and had already had major roles in two big television miniseries, ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ and ‘Any Human Heart.’ Astrid and Sam both did screen tests that excited us enormously. We just knew that they both had what it takes to make a major impression on the big screen and were proven more than right in that regard.”

“I play a missionary named Philip Swift who stands up for what he believes in and tries to right Blackbeard’s wrongs,” notes Claflin. “In the course of the story, Philip goes through a surprising journey, especially when he meets Syrena. He’s never really had any contact with women, so that’s quite a turn of events, to say the least.”

Bergès-Frisbey was just as gobsmacked as Sam Claflin when she learned of her selection to star in the newest “Pirates of the Caribbean” epic. “I couldn’t believe I was part of it until I arrived in Kauai for the first fitting,” she admits. “Syrena is different from the other mermaids because, in the story, she connects to the human characters, which changes her. Philip changes Syrena, and Syrena changes Philip because, from the first moment, they see in the other something similar to themselves. Syrena is different to the other mermaids as Philip is different to the other humans. He’s a really good person, and Syrena responds to him differently than to other sailors and pirates, who are at war with the mermaids.”

Before filming, Bergès-Frisbey set forth on researching the legend and lore of mermaids. “From the time of Homer’s ‘The Odyssey,’ everywhere in the world, there are myths about mermaids,” she notes, “seducing with their charm and then killing sailors. Then these myths began to change in the 19th century when Hans Christian Andersen wrote ‘The Little Mermaid,’ which was a more romantic view. That’s now become more common, especially with the Disney animated film of that story and other films like ‘Splash.’ I think that Syrena is a link between the frightening older stories and the more romantic, recent versions of mermaids.”

During the entire two months of filming in Hawaii, Bergès-Frisbey—in order to retain the pale complexion that a mermaid must have, living as they do mostly underwater—was not permitted to have fun in the sun. “I had to live like a vampire,” laughs Bergès-Frisbey, “staying indoors during the day and only able to come out at night!”

The remainder of the huge cast was assembled from a pool of renowned international talent which included Great Britain’s Stephen Graham, who had worked with Depp on Michael Mann’s “Public Enemies” as the scrappy Scrum. “My character was originally from the Greenwich area of London,” notes Graham, “a true sailor who’s been out to sea since he was a kid. I kind of think of Scrum as being like the Artful Dodger of the pirate world, always looking for something to do, always with his hand in something. He’s always looking for another way to make more money, or go on another adventure. Scrum is a great, fun character to play, and after playing a few psychos lately, it’s great to be able to let all that go and just really enjoy myself.”

Joining the company were other distinguished international actors, including Richard Griffiths, Roger Allam, Greg Ellis and Damian O’Hare (the latter two repeating their earlier roles as Groves and Gillette), and 15-year-old Robbie Kay, the first kid to portray a pirate in the series; Spain’s Oscar Jaenada and Juan Carlos Vellido; Japan’s Yuki Matsuzaki; and Australian supermodel Gemma Ward as the mermaid Tamara.

Also returning to the “Pirates” fold is Keith Richards, legendary guitarist of The Rolling Stones, once again portraying Captain Teague. Depp, who has openly stated that Richards was one of his key inspirations for Captain Jack Sparrow, says, “After having Keith on the third film, I knew that he had to come back. I spoke to Jerry and the screenwriters early on, and everyone agreed. The global reaction to Keith’s presence as Captain Teague was monumental. Keith was more than ready to come back, as long as it made sense within the context of the story. I thought the way Ted and Terry handled it was wonderful, because yet again, he comes in just at the right moment.

“He’s a fascinating man, you know,” continues Depp. “I’ve known him for a long time, and to get periods like that where it’s just him and me hanging out, sitting around in the trailer yakking about music, movies, whatever, was a real pleasure.”

“Johnny was the engineer,” adds Richards. “He said to me, ‘Are you in?’ And I said, ‘Just give me the rig, baby.’ It’s so much fun.”

Rob Marshall was also thrilled to be working with the rock legend. “He is a very sweet man and very funny, very self-deprecating,” says the director.

“After we shot his scene, I said, ‘Keith, that was fantastic. I’m so impressed.’ And he said slyly, ‘You should see my Hamlet.’ It was a joy to work with him, because he’s such fun. He’s terrific in the movie and Johnny adores him. They have this amazing chemistry.”

“We definitely want to take the audience on a journey beyond and different than what they’ve seen in the previous ‘Pirates’ movies,” notes Jerry Bruckheimer. “With ‘On Stranger Tides,’ we have the great director of photography Dariusz Wolski, who has done all three previous ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ films and, this time, works for the first time in digital 3D. We also have a brilliant Academy Award®–winning production designer, John Myhre, who was brought in by Rob Marshall, and we’ve filmed in all-new locations ranging from Hawaii to the Caribbean to London.”

For Myhre, the task to design the fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” epic was literally a dream come true. “Pirates of the Caribbean is just my favorite ride at Disneyland. I think I’ve been on the ride every year since it opened in 1967. I grew up in Seattle, but my family came down once a year to Disneyland.”

As soon as Rob Marshall was announced as director for “On Stranger Tides,” Myhre admits that he “literally started jumping around my living room like an 8-year-old boy.” The reason was that he had already collaborated with Marshall on all three of the director’s previous features, winning Oscars® for his dynamic re-creation of the Jazz Age in “Chicago” and an astounding evocation of Kyoto, almost entirely on California locations, for “Memoirs of a Geisha.”

Before filming began, Marshall, his longtime collaborator John DeLuca and Production Designer Myhre went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride but, this time, were able to stop and examine details as research for “On Stranger Tides.” “Rob and I are both fans of all the previous ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies,” notes Myhre, “but it’s fun to come in with a new creative team, because you have a chance to shake things out and bring your own thoughts to it. We wanted to bring a certain theatricality to ‘On Stranger Tides,’ which is very character-driven. We’re also expanding the ‘Pirates’ world by opening the film in London of the mid-1700s, then moving on to the islands, jungles and beaches of the Caribbean.”

Explains Myhre, “The film kind of divides into three chapters: the opening in London, the middle section on the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and the last third is a trek through the jungle in search of the Fountain of Youth. Looking for those thick, dense, gorgeous jungles brought us to Kauai and Oahu in Hawaii, then a huge set for the mermaid sequence in Los Angeles, on to Puerto Rico for a tiny island and historic Spanish fort, and finally to the United Kingdom for London exteriors and a large number of sets built at Pinewood Studios.”

Joining Myhre to manifest ideas, concepts and dreams into three-dimensional reality were Set Decorator Gordon Sim, who shared his Academy Award® for “Chicago” and nomination for “Nine,” U.S. Supervising Art Director Tomas Voth, U.K. Supervising Art Director Gary Freeman, and a huge team of designers, draftsmen and artists on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the “Pirates” shoot.

Captain Jack Sparrow, Angelica, Hector Barbossa, Blackbeard, Gibbs, Philip, Syrena and about a thousand other characters in “On Stranger Tides” represent a synergistic collaboration of (first and foremost) the actors who portray them and then the filmmakers and dozens of others who contribute to their wardrobe, hair, makeup and props.

The estimable Penny Rose, for the fourth time, combed the globe to appropriately costume not only the protagonists and supporting players of “On Stranger Tides,” but the hundreds of extras as well. Says Jerry Bruckheimer, “The devil is in the details, and Penny is as obsessed with the tiny elements as she is with the big picture. There’s really nobody else like her in her very specialized field.”

A creative hurricane, the British-born, multilingual Rose, along with her key associates (primarily Associate Costume Designer John Norster and Assistant Costume Designer Margie Fortune), left no detail unattended to. “When you’ve already done three,” says Rose, “there’s a kind of familiarity and a great sense of fun about doing a fourth. But we’ve got some new ingredients.”

In a pirate movie, dealing with water on a daily basis as well as a lot of stunts, results in a huge costume-manufacturing undertaking. Rose had 700 costumes made in Rome for all the background players. The busy bootmaker and hatmaker were also based in Italy.

Explains Rose, “I can’t ever have two pirates standing together in the same fabric or the same coat in the same color, so we go to Florence and buy 1,700 different fabrics. Our buttons come from a funny little shop in Paris, and I think, in one morning, we chose 4,800 buttons because I don’t want anyone to have the same buttons as somebody else. A very clever guy with a foundry makes our buckles, and since he also makes beautiful leather wares, he makes some of our belts and baldricks. Most of the pirate sashes are made with thin, Madras-style Indian cottons. We have a dye shop and try to use vegetable and fruit dying so that it looks authentic for the period. Then a lot of pieces go into the cement mixer with a few stones to break them down and age them properly. Then we take cheese graters and other methods to them to break them down even more. We wreck costumes for a living here.

“But the costumes are constructed absolutely authentically,” insists Rose. “There are no modern gimmicks within them. You’ll find no zippers or Velcro on these costumes!”

Since, as Johnny Depp put it, “…old Captain Jack found himself long ago,” there was little need to tamper too much with the character’s now-iconic look. Yes, his dreadlocks have gotten longer, some have grayed, others lightened by the relentless sun of the Caribbean. And yes, somewhere along the line, he’s acquired a mysterious “x” scar on his left cheek and a gold tooth embedded with a black pearl (replacing one which is now dangling from his bandana). But the fundamental look established in “The Curse of the Black Pearl” is essentially intact.

“There is something special about creating a costume that is now worn by kids everywhere on Halloween,” says Penny Rose, “but I really can’t take credit, can I? I mean, it’s Mr. Depp’s rendering of Captain Jack that’s caught the imagination of everybody. We do have a new blue vest for Captain Jack, though,” she adds. “We thought the vest was a bit boring, and maybe Jack had stolen something along the line, so he’s got a very nice silk vest now. And we have 80 of Captain Jack’s head scarves, because we never want to run out.

“For Penélope Cruz as Angelica,” continues Rose, “I had it in mind that I wanted her to be kind of a romantic pirate highwayman. So I created a man’s jacket cut for a woman, as befits a female pirate, with pants and thigh-high boots, which are very sexy. And I wanted to accentuate Penélope’s figure, so she’s wearing a leather corset curtsied in strips, which accentuates the upper part of her body. We also gave her a wonderful plumed hat which has great flair perfect for her character.”

As for Ian McShane’s Blackbeard, although there was much historical documentation of the actual pirate, the creative artists on the film were prepared to give him their own fanciful touch. “We knew all about Blackbeard,” says Rose. “He wasn’t very glamorous; he was a nasty piece of work, but obviously, for a movie, we wanted him to be glamorous as well.

“I just woke up one morning and said, ‘My God, if they cast Ian McShane, he’s got to be a biker,’” proclaims Rose. “Everybody jumped at it, and the only time it might have hiccupped was when I had to tell poor Mr. McShane that he would be wearing leather in Hawaii for two months. But he was quite happy to go with it, being a very professional, experienced actor who understands that it’s worth suffering if you’re going to look great. So we did Ian as a kind of Hells Angel biker pirate. We have him in lots of beaten-up leather and stud work, and Ian looks pretty mean in them, but also very handsome and striking.” And even meaner once McShane’s makeup artist, Kenny Myers, finished applying the very long, braided beard which gave the terrible pirate his very name.

One character from the previous “Pirates of the Caribbean” films who does undergo quite a sea change in “On Stranger Tides” is Hector Barbossa. “The costume design of Penny Rose has given me a silhouette and a shape unlike any other character I’ve played,” notes Geoffrey Rush. “Not just by the sort of historical nature of the costumes, but she’s given him a sort of arrogance and vanity and scale of personality that, once all that stuff goes on, it puts me into a different level of imaginative play than I’ve done in other films.”

“In this movie, Barbossa has become a privateer, so we’ve put Geoffrey in a very grand commodore’s uniform,” says Rose. “You know, if he’s going to work for the king, he might as well look the part, which is very different from the pirate we’ve seen in the previous films.”

Rush also dealt with an even greater change in Barbossa: a peg leg where a real one used to be. “In the 18th century, they basically got you very drunk, sawed your leg off and replaced it with a bit of wood from an old piano or something,” notes the actor. “Back in the old days, an actor like Robert Newton playing Long John Silver in ‘Treasure Island’ would have spent the whole shoot with these legs strapped up to his back and tried to avoid letting people seeing his foot sticking out the back. But from the nature of the script, and the maneuverability that I would need, you can’t run with your leg strapped up like that.

“So we went with a much more effective and practical solution, which was to put on a blue-screen stocking with all the appropriate marking dots and have it digitally replaced. I like the fact that Barbossa has a disability, because that’s psychically made him angrier, more forceful, more resilient as a character.”

Makeup Department Head Joel Harlow, an Academy Award® winner, and his team of eager artists, were responsible for creating much of the look of Blackbeard’s eerie zombie crew, with quite a bit of R&D preceding the final results. “A concept illustrator named Miles Teves did several drawings,” recalls Harlow, “which we then had to translate to three dimensions.”

Harlow continues, “The idea was that the zombies don’t contain muscle and flesh, but moss, stones and fiber, like they’re devoid of blood, sinew and anything that makes us human, with lots of stitching. We did a lot of research into Santeria symbols, voodoo lore, classic zombie movies, as well as shrunken heads. We did an initial battery of testing in L.A. before filming began, sent them to Jerry and Rob, and got their feedback. Then, just before we started shooting in Kauai, we lined up about 14 zombies in front of Jerry and Rob, and they made changes then as well. Finally, the makeup on each zombie took an average of three-and-a-half hours every day they worked.”

“One of the most exciting aspects of ‘On Stranger Tides,’” says Jerry Bruckheimer, “is that, for the first time, we have a London setting for part of the story, rather than the jungles, oceans and colonial outposts of the Caribbean. It really gives the film an entirely different look and feeling.”

Although the venerable Pinewood Studios outside of London would provide John Myhre, U.K. Supervising Art Director Gary Freeman and their mammoth art department with a gigantic playground in which to build their sets, some of the region’s most heralded historical buildings and other sites would also host the “On Stranger Tides” production. So ambitious was the effort to create the physical world of the film, the U.K. art department for the film numbered six art directors, five draftsmen and concept, graphic and storyboard artists. Construction Manager Andy Evans’ department included 62 carpenters, 29 painters, 71 plasterers, 36 riggers and 14 sculptors…not surprising when one considers that the production built huge sets on five different Pinewood soundstages, including the 007 Stage, the largest such facility in Europe, and a large exterior backlot set as well.

The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, England, is an extraordinary collection of historic buildings dating from the late 17th to the mid 18th centuries—with its own piratical connections—which essentially became a backlot for more than three weeks of filming. The building standing in for the Old Bailey courthouse in the film is actually Sir Christopher Wren’s magnificent Painted Hall, which was partially financed with funds confiscated by the Crown from Captain Kidd’s booty after he was hung at Execution Dock across the Thames from the complex in Blackwall.

During actual filming, a huge blue screen was situated, with the image of Wren’s St. Paul’s Cathedral and sailing ship masts “painted” in by artists from Visual Effects Supervisor Charles Gibson’s department. “We needed a really wonderful opening establishing shot of deep in the heart of London,” notes John Myhre, “so we used the lower level of the buildings of the Old Royal Naval College for our extras, carriages and horses, but everything above the first level painted in through visual effects.” This included replacing the Painted Hall’s weathervane with a digital re-creation of Lady Justice, who strides atop the Old Bailey, holding a sword in one hand, the scales of justice in the other. A scene was actually filmed inside of Wren’s Painted Hall of Captain Jack being unceremoniously dragged through the entrance hall of St. James Palace by Royal Guards.

A huge swath of the Old Royal Naval College, including the exteriors of the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul, Grand Square, Queen Mary Court and buildings which currently house the University of Greenwich and Trinity College of Music, were also utilized for the film’s thrilling carriage-chase sequence. Completely obscuring the modern pavement were copious amounts of realistic mud, with more than 500 costumed extras, 25 period carriages (85 percent of which were originals rather than replicas), 50 horses and untold crew members, from Jerry Bruckheimer and Rob Marshall onward, getting realistically filthy in the process, up to their ankles in muck. Trinity College also provided the company with often marvelously incongruous background music to the exciting goings-on, including jazz and modernistic twelve-tone.

A delightful sidebar to the filming in Greenwich was an unexpected event that became international news overnight. During the shoot at the Old Royal Naval College, 9-year-old Beatrice Delap, a bright little student at Meridian Primary School—spitting distance from the filming locale—sent Johnny Depp a hand-written letter with the following missive:

“Captain Jack Sparrow, at Meridian primary school we are a bunch of budding young pirates. Normally we’re a right handful but we’re having trouble mutinying against the teachers. We’d love it if you could come and help. From Beatrice Delap, aged nine, a budding pirate”.

About a week later, Beatrice and her classmates were called into the auditorium, the students fearing a tongue-lashing or worse for some nefarious playground incidents. Instead, unannounced to anyone but the school’s principal, in strode Johnny Depp, fully attired as Captain Jack, on a lunch break from filming at the ORNC along with a few other crew members—including the film’s Oscar®-winning makeup designer, Joel Harlow—suitably attired as fellow buccaneers. For 15 minutes, the children and teachers were mesmerized by the presence of the iconic character and his creator, who spoke, sang and danced for the assemblage.

Recreating both the exterior and interior of St. James Palace in “On Stranger Tides” required the seamless melding of shooting at Hampton Court Palace for Captain Jack’s surprise arrest by Royal Guards, then the interior of the Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich as the pirate is literally dragged by soldiers to King George II’s lavish dining room, followed by a built set piece of the St. James Palace exterior built at the ORNC. The king’s dining room, however, was in fact a splendid set on R Stage at Pinewood Studios.

“That becomes an amazing action sequence, and for that, you need to control the environment completely,” notes John Myhre. “When you have Captain Jack swinging on chandeliers and throwing chairs through 18th-century windows, you need to build it.”

The St. James dining-hall sequence was exquisitely lit by Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski with flickering candlelight, and with authentic makeup and powdered wigs—a few of hundreds prepared by Hair Department Head Peter King, yet another Academy Award®– winning artist—adorning the king and his chief advisers. With great Shakespearean actors Roger Allam and Anton Lesser on either side of Richard Griffiths, the scene gave Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon” a run for the money in period authenticity and detail.

Sharing R Stage at Pinewood with the St. James Palace dining hall was an intricate re-creation of an Old Bailey courtroom, circa 1750, with paintings of nobles and other worthies decorating the walls and Set Decorator Gordon Sim and UK Propmaster Ty Teiger’s departments securing the required quill pens, parchment and period law books. With the addition of Penny Rose’s costumes and Hair Designer Peter King’s powdered wigs and other hairstyles of the day, the set looked ready for actual proceedings.

Just behind the 007 Stage on the Pinewood backlot was a remarkably atmospheric recreation of a mid-18th-century London dockyard street. The street’s architecture reflects several eras, from Tudor and Elizabethan half-timber to stone and wooden structures, all meticulously detailed, right down to period graffiti. “There are really amazing craftspeople here in England, and this is their heritage,” remarks Myhre. “This is a world that they’ve lived in, so everyone in the art department was very excited about the details and ideas that they had. The street is built out of wood and plaster, but they found a few beautiful old beams from the period, cast and modeled them, and used those as the basis for the set.”

Although the exterior entrance to the Captain’s Daughter pub could be found on the backlot set, as soon as Johnny Depp and Keith Richards walk through the door, they’re actually on Pinewood’s E Stage. When illuminated by flickering candlelight and populated by the likes of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Keith Richards as Captain Teague and a motley assortment of dockside denizens, the Captain’s Daughter set took on an atmosphere of absolute authenticity.

This dark, wooded storage room of the Captain’s Daughter—so much larger than the diminutive pub itself—became a fun-filled arena for an action sequence involving a swordfight between two Captain Jacks and then a detachment of intruding British Royal Guards.

Another ornate set was designed by Myhre and built at Pinewood for the scene in which Captain Jack and Barbossa play teeter-totter in attempting to retrieve the chalices needed for the Fountain of Youth ritual inside of Ponce de Leon’s cabin on the precariously perched “Santiago.” This set has the most overt link to the original Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland, resulting from Rob Marshall’s research ride before he began filming “On Stranger Tides.” He noted the tableau known as the ‘Captain’s Quarters,’ in which a skeletal figure peers at a map with a magnifying glass, surrounded by mounds of treasure. This became yet another in a series of direct tips of the pirate’s hat in the four “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies to the original attraction.

Once again, Set Decorator Gordon Sim and his department created a cornucopia of furniture, pirate’s booty, a harpsichord, drapery and other accoutrements to contribute even more atmospheric flair.

Surely, John Myhre’s pièce de résistance was the gargantuan Fountain of Youth set. The final concept of the Fountain of Youth, constructed along with a cavern which extended the entrance and was filmed back at Waikapala’e in Kauai, was designed by Myhre and his team of art directors, and brilliantly erected by Andy Evans’ construction department, on the famed Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios, the largest such facility in Europe. Inhabiting nearly every inch of its 59,000 square feet—the only stage big enough to contain Myhre’s vision—the set took three months to construct.

U.K. Special Effects Supervisor Neil Corbould was responsible for keeping the Fountain of Youth set filled with 1.5 million gallons of water, which had to be turned over every three hours, with filters taking particles out and chemicals pumped in to keep it clean for the actors, background and stunt players working in it. A separate tank in the back of the set, with pumps and 20 nozzles, created a waterfall backdrop. And two tons of dry ice per day kept an atmospheric mist on the water. Five thousand square meters of moss as well as a few thousand ferns and roots and hanging plants were brought in to dress the set.

Other exteriors in England were filmed at the historic Knole House in Sevenoaks, Kent, an extraordinary 15th-century country mansion first built by the Archbishop of Canterbury and home to the Sackville family since 1604.

“It’s always a thrill, and very exciting, to be on a pirate ship,” says Jerry Bruckheimer. “I think every kid wants to be a pirate, and working on these movies, we all have the chance to live our dreams.” Even if that pirate ship is a floating nightmare. Imposing, terrifyingly beautiful, a brutal beast of the sea, the Queen Anne’s Revenge is Blackbeard’s vessel, and an extension of his own dark vision of life…and death.

Director Rob Marshall notes, “The Queen Anne’s Revenge is an incredibly evil vessel: It’s made of the skulls and bones of Blackbeard’s victims. It’s been prophesied that Blackbeard will die soon, so there is also a sense of doom on the ship. It’s a majestic pirate ship, so it was absolutely thrilling to sail.”

“The scale of it was unbelievable, and the craftsmanship was amazing,” comments actor Stephen Graham, who filmed many of his scenes aboard the craft. “It’s all hand-painted, hand-crafted, and it’s like being at Disneyland every single day.”

“How fabulous to work on a pirate movie and get to design a ship,” enthuses John Myhre. “We were handed the Black Pearl which was redesigned and built by Rick Heinrichs, the production designer of the second and third ‘Pirates’ films. Rick and his crew, plus the boat builders, constructed the Black Pearl around the hull of a modern steel boat, and it was completely navigable. And since the Black Pearl doesn’t figure into the story of ‘On Stranger Tides,’ Disney wanted us to use the ship as the base for the Queen Anne’s Revenge. So we basically sliced the entire top of the boat off, and were able to come up with whatever we wanted.”

Myhre looked at a lot of old pirate films and noticed that it was not always easy to distinguish one ship from another in battles, but he wanted to make the Queen Anne’s Revenge stand out and look like the most powerful ship on the seas. “The real Blackbeard captured over 20 ships,” says Myhre, “so I pitched the idea that he kept the one that was the most elegant and grandest. So we took the base of a two-story ship and turned it into a three-and-a-half-story ship.”

Before its transformation into the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the Black Pearl sailed an astonishing 2400 nautical miles in two weeks from San Pedro, California to Barbers Point, Oahu, (since it was constructed for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” built around the hull of an offshore supply boat called the Sunset, the Pearl has put in more than 8,000 nautical miles), under the expert seamanship of its captain, Glenn Hall, aka “Captain Kiwi” and his crew of seven very hearty shipmates.

For four months at The Phoenician shipyard in Kapolei, Greg Callas’ construction crew, in concert with Bruce Ross’ marine department, gave the Black Pearl its ultimate makeover. “The ship had sat in dry dock for five years, so she was tired in spots,” notes Callas. “We had to do a lot of deck replacement, with lots of sculpting of elements in Los Angeles and then shipped to Oahu.”

After its retrofit and redesign by Myhre and U.S. Supervising Art Director Tomas Voth, the Pearl re-emerged as something utterly unlike its previous incarnation. “We decided to make the stern of the boat as high as it could possibly be and still be able to sail,” notes Voth. “On the third deck, we’re 55 feet up in the air from the water line. We had to put several tons of lead weight in the front of the ship so it didn’t pop a wheelie, and the ship is now 100 tons heavier than it was as the Black Pearl.”

The wall of skulls to the left and right of the door that leads into Blackbeard’s inner sanctum was actually moved from the Queen Anne’s Revenge to Pinewood Studios in England, where the interior of the cabin was constructed on a soundstage.

“Designing something like the Queen Anne’s Revenge is what I most love about working on films, because they’re such a collaboration,” notes John Myhre. “I started drawing up these really beautiful baroque details for the ship, almost like Versailles, which would make the ship look really rich and elegant. We showed the drawings to Jerry Bruckheimer and Rob Marshall, and they loved them, but Jerry said something interesting: ‘Blackbeard had to be the scariest pirate we’ve ever had in a “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie.’ Jerry said that since the most famous pirate flag is the skull and crossbones, we should work some skulls and skeletons into the actual design of the ship.

“I remembered Kostnice, the famous ‘Church of Bones’ in Kutna Hora, Czech Republic,” continues Myhre. “It’s this amazing church which is literally decorated with bones. They made garlands out of spines and pyramids out of skulls. And I thought, wow, instead of doing all this intricately carved molding details, what if we just used the bones of Blackbeard’s victims in the design of the Queen Anne’s Revenge? So we made moldings of leg and arm bones and teeth, and walls out of skulls, with the idea that Blackbeard actually burned his victims in a giant, flaming lantern on the stern of the ship.”

The figurehead of the “Queen Anne’s Revenge” was based on Blackbeard’s real flag, which was a great horned skeleton holding a goblet of wine in one hand and a spear in the other, as if he’s toasting his victims. “I always loved that,” says Myhre, “and thought that, for the figurehead, we would do something similar. And one of the legends of Blackbeard is that, going into battle, he would light fuses embedded in his beard, so he was always fiery and smoky. I thought it would be cool to transfer this idea to the ship itself, for it to be scary, devilish, fiery and smoky. So for the skeleton figurehead, we have fire coming out of the rib cage, eyes and goblet, and that casts a smoky haze around the entire ship. And the huge lantern in the back is sending off trails of smoke from the bow.

“We thought it would be great fun if Blackbeard has a huge stained-glass window in the back of his cabin at the rear of the ship,” adds Myhre, “which was illuminated by the giant fire lantern just outside. To me, it was about the light creating the atmosphere in the cabin, with the angry, billowing flame moving through the window.”

The interior of Blackbeard’s cabin was actually later built on B Stage at Pinewood Studios and included a large section of the huge stained-glass window. “We had a good time dressing the set,” says Myhre, “because in our incarnation of Blackbeard, he has supernatural powers, so we have many objects of the occult spread about, as well as more typical seafaring charts and navigational equipment. You have all his power and wealth and loot, but also a fantastic layer of magic and alchemy.”

Since Myhre had already appropriated the skeleton from Blackbeard’s real, historically correct flag for the Queen Anne’s Revenge figurehead, a new design was needed for the pirate’s flag in “On Stranger Tides,” ultimately contributed by Heather Pollington. What resulted was a fiery banner which wouldn’t look out of place on the back of a motorcycle gang jacket, fitting right in with the overall concept of Blackbeard as a “biker pirate,” as Costume Designer Penny Rose puts it.

The Queen Anne’s Revenge was not only the setting for numerous scenes of action and supernatural mayhem, but also for a moonlit dance of romance, deception and double-dealing between Captain Jack and Angelica, choreographed by Executive Producer John DeLuca to mandola music played by Stephen Graham as Scrum. (Graham actually learned how to play the mandola for his role with several preproduction lessons.)

“Johnny is such a physical being,” notes DeLuca, “and what he creates in his physical being for his characters is the same as what a dancer does. Penélope truly is a dancer; she loves to dance and loves to move, so it was a hoot working with them on the scene.”

Whitecap Bay in Los Angeles, Real Mermaids and the Real Caribbean

Leaving behind the sylvan shores of Hawaii, the “On Stranger Tides” company flew to Los Angeles, where they spent a couple of days filming off the coast of Long Beach. In the film, the HMS Surprise—a beautiful replica of the 1757 British frigate HMS Rose—doubled as the Providence, shooting off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., about 120 miles up the coast from where the ship is usually docked at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

The extraordinary Whitecap Bay set, 343 feet long and 22 feet deep, was designed by John Myhre and built with great skill by U.S. Construction Supervisor Greg Callas and his team at the “Falls Lake” section of Universal Studios in Los Angeles. “Whitecap Bay is the beginning of the third act of the movie,” notes Myhre, “part of the journey to find the Fountain of Youth. Whitecap Bay is where mermaids have been known to gather for hundreds of years.

“We needed to be in a completely controlled environment for the water sequence that happens there,” continues Myhre. “That’s why we went to Falls Lake, a series of connected concrete tanks that you can build a set into and on top of, and then flood. It was the only way you could really shoot the sequence on water and not put actors and stunt players in a dangerous situation.”

Adds Rob Marshall, “That was complicated and long, all-night shoots, with a lot of stunt work, and a lot of underwater work. All of our characters were in wetsuits, being thrown around. So that was, without a doubt, the most complicated sequence and the most challenging.”

In addition to Astrid Bergès-Frisbey’s Syrena, “real” mermaids came in the form of seven gorgeous model/actresses (including Australia’s superstar Gemma Ward as the alluring Tamara) and a talented team of 22 synchronized swimmers—some of them Olympic competitors in Beijing in 2008—organized and choreographed by Candace Hipp, and outfitted in motion-capture suits to later be converted into “reel” mermaids by Visual Effects Supervisor Charles Gibson and Ben Snow of Industrial Light & Magic.

Considering the amount of time they all had to spend in the waters of the Whitecap Bay set at Universal—at night, no less—it helped greatly for them to have a comfort level in liquid surroundings. “In Australia, we have beach training from a very young age,” notes Ward, “and I’ve always loved being in the ocean. We did a lot of training in the water for this film with certain types of movements that mermaids make, and the way they move under water is very different from a human being. We had to learn how to move with our legs together and undulating movements.” While a fashion icon, Ward is still relatively new to the acting ranks and was clearly blown away by the size and scope of the Whitecap Bay set. “My God, it’s amazing; it’s incredible. I mean, just the scope of it; I’d never seen anything like this before.”

“The biggest challenge,” notes synchronized swimming coach and choreographer Candace Hipp, “is that the girls don’t get to use their arms as much as they would like. So they’re using a ‘dolphining kick,’ one of the hardest kicks to use in swimming because of the stomach muscles that need to be used. This is when the swimmers jump out of the water as far as they can, keeping their legs together. They’re also using what’s called the ‘eggbeater,’ turning your legs around and around in circles as a way of treading water.”

The actors, who had to be together in a small wooden boat floating in the middle of the huge Falls Lake tank, forged a camaraderie based on necessity. “We were surrounded by beautiful mermaids, so that wasn’t a bad thing by any means,” says Sam Claflin, “but it definitely wasn’t the most comfortable of boats, and there were six of us in that tiny boat for four consecutive nights. It was kind of like island fever, but on a boat. But we started feeling like real pirates, singing songs, mucking about and having chats between takes. We made our own entertainment, and it was nice to get to know each other and the mermaids.”

The visual effects for “On Stranger Tides,” which would prove to be as much of a gamechanger as what had been done for the previous three films, were primarily handled by Industrial Light & Magic, Moving Picture Company and Cinesite, with contributions also made by CIS Hollywood, Rising Sun, Method and Hydraulx, all under the supervision of Charles Gibson, who won an Academy Award®, with a few collaborators, for their work on “Dead Man’s Chest.”

In addition to creating photorealistic mermaids, Gibson and his legion of VFX artists would be called upon to do everything from extending the urban landscapes of 18thcentury London to altering the already-astounding natural environments filmed in Hawaii, not to mention bringing a whole ship to terrifying life in the Queen Anne’s Revenge mutiny sequence.

It would be up to Gibson, VFX Producer David Conley and Ben Snow of Industrial Light & Magic to ultimately convert the blacksuited swimmers into terrifying mermaids. “Based on what ILM had done with Bill Nighy and Davy Jones in ‘Dead Man’s Chest’ and ‘At World’s End,’” notes Gibson, “we knew that we could create fully synthetic characters with great fidelity that matched the performances of live-action characters. The actresses who played the mermaids were tracked wearing either special suits or, in some cases, transfer tattoos when they couldn’t be wearing suits. These were then blended so that we had the best of both worlds.”

Adds ILM’s Ben Snow, “We put the synchronized swimmers into ILM’s tracking costumes. They’re wearing marker bands so we can edit our computer mermaids where the synchronized swimmers and stunt players were. The swimmers are really amazing. They’re able to do incredible things with their bodies, like ‘porpoise-ing’ in and out of the water. One of the ways that we can use the performance of the swimmers is to track them by the markers they wear on their costumes. We have a couple of our people shooting with video cameras, and we are able to synchronize those with the RED digital cameras used for actual filming. That helps us track the movements, because we can use the multiple angles and that allows us to take what Rob Marshall was doing when he directed the scenes and reproduce them in animation. We’ve come up with an interesting design for the mermaids, part creature and part beautiful women, with long, jellyfish-like tendrils that whip out and drag sailors to their doom. It’s technically very challenging, but also very exciting.”

Charlie Gibson and company also helped to create the seaweed whips that the mermaids use to drag the hapless pirates to their doom. “Stunt coordinator George Ruge had his guys getting pulled on rigs and ratchets,” notes Gibson, “so we just rode on their coattails and created the right animation to create a successful hybrid of real action and visual effects.”

And then the “On Stranger Tides” company found themselves, finally, in the real Caribbean as they flew from Los Angeles to Puerto Rico to shoot in Old San Juan and a tiny island off the east coastal city of Fajardo. The perfect site for the exterior of the Spanish fort needed in the film was the Castillo San Cristobal in Old San Juan, one of the two great fortifications built by Spain to guard the city from land attack. Construction began in 1634 and completed in 1783, making it absolutely period-correct for the film’s mid-18th-century setting.

The filmmakers also discovered a classic desert island so perfect that no one could believe that it actually existed. And indeed, the island of Palominito off the coast of Fajardo was little more than a few palm trees, a great deal of sand, surrounded by an astounding turquoise ocean.

“Although we filmed the first three ‘Pirates’ movies mostly in the actual Caribbean,” notes Jerry Bruckheimer, “for ‘On Stranger Tides,’ we required landscapes so beautiful, they’re almost otherworldly.” After extensive location scouts, the filmmakers settled on the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu, each offering their particular attributes on both land and sea.

“Both islands, especially Kauai, have these extraordinary jungles, mountains and shorelines,” says Rob Marshall. “They’re so lush, oversized and just stunning. Oahu also has beautiful landscapes, and we also did all of our shooting at sea there of Blackbeard’s ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge.”

“It’s a sign of things to come when the first day of filming a big adventure is almost as adventurous as what you’re putting up on screen,” laughs Bruckheimer in recalling June 14, 2010. The almost-inaccessible Honopu Beach on Kauai’s fabled Na Pali Coast is a magnificent stretch of sand surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs rising to 1,200 feet. As a protected site by the State of Hawaii, the only way into this natural wonder was either by helicopter—with Johnny Depp surreally emerging from a chopper in full costume, hair and makeup as Captain Jack Sparrow—or by sea.

However, since boats are not permitted to actually land on the beach, the only way in for most of the company was by Zodiac craft and then either transferring to Jet Skis or getting towed behind on water sleds through what turned out that day to be a rough, punishing surf. And since the Jet Skis weren’t permitted to actually stop, everyone had to jump off or get yanked off the skis or the sleds. Of course, most of the crew, with first assistant director Peter Kohn preceding them (as he would for more than 100 days to follow), was exhilarated when they finally made it to the beach. As for the needed equipment, most of it had to be sling-loaded and brought in by helicopter.

“We always like to say that if there’s an easy way and a hard way to do something,” notes Executive Producer Barry Waldman, “we’ll choose the hard way every time. Two days before we shot on Honopu Beach, the swells were only two feet. Of course, on the day that we started shooting, they were five feet. But filming on Honopu Beach is one of those things that, if you do it right, adds enormous value to the film.”

Adds Executive Producer Chad Oman, “I thought it was great seeing Rob Marshall being pulled up on a Jet Ski right up onto the beach for his first day of filming. What a great introduction to making ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ Most of us had all been through making three ‘Pirates’ movies, but for him, it was a whole new experience, and it was wonderful to see him bringing his excitement and enthusiasm to the project.”

“The Garden Island,” as Kauai is rightfully called, served up numerous landscapes well beyond Honopu Beach for a bewildering number of environments required for the film, as well as a considerable number of background players. In fact, an estimated 7,000 men turned up for open calls in both Kauai and Oahu a month and a half before the cameras turned, many decked out in pirate gear, including bandanas, headscarves, earrings and tattoos (mostly real).

Several were selected, but six lucky candidates living in Hawaii actually became a core group of Queen Anne’s Revenge pirates, each with their own unique (if not eccentric) personalities: Tamayo Perry, a world-class big-wave surfer; Kevin Senn, who is nicknamed “Top Hat” for the Lincoln-esque top hat he always wears; Michael Rosales, a rap artist of Filipino descent, whose artist name is Mic3; Emerson (Malcolm) Tuitt, the only true pirate of the Caribbean, originally hailing from the Montserrat in the Lesser Antilles; strikingly tall Rey Payumo, who has delivered mail for 20 years; and Thomas Smith, a horticulturist by trade.

Following the waterlogged and sun-drenched first day’s shoot on Honopu Beach, the company then proceeded, for a full month, to film on numerous locations throughout Kauai. Such locales as the grounds of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Lawai, Kipu Ranch, Grove Farm and Valley House Ranch provided rich landscapes for thick jungle growth, rivers, chasms and cliffs, much of it ruggedly challenging for the cast and crew to access and film, especially with the two-camera, 3D rigs.

But shooting in paradise certainly charmed the cast. “On my first day of shooting in the jungle,” recalls Sam Claflin, “we were waiting for the camera to set up. Malcolm, one of the pirates from Hawaii, picked up a coconut which had fallen off a palm tree, took one of his prop swords, and whacked it open. Soon we were all drinking coconut milk, right there on location. Hawaii is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen in my life, and I feel blessed for the opportunity to work there.”

Although known to most tourists merely as the “Blue Room” or “Blue Cave,” to the native Hawaiian people in their richly poetic language, Waikapala’e on Kauai’s North Shore—just across the road from Ke’e Beach, where the company also filmed—is a place of great and sacred cultural significance. The exquisite cave grotto was chosen as the entrance to the caverns that lead to the Fountain of Youth, perhaps appropriate since the Hawaiians believe that the waters in Waikapala’e have their own life-giving power. Appropriately, the day’s filming there began with a powerful blessing ceremony conducted by a Hawaiian cultural practitioner. In fact, the “On Stranger Tides” company made certain that whenever filming on or near sacred grounds, such ceremonies were always conducted before the cameras turned.

The weather gods were unusually kind to the production throughout filming in Kauai, except for one day in which a drenching rainstorm covered the entire island, forcing Johnny Depp and Kevin R. McNally to film a scene inside an 18th-century paddy wagon (which actually takes place in England), rather than on Ke’e Beach. The next day, though, skies cleared enough to allow Depp and McNally to shoot an important sunset scene on the beach, with enough clouds moving in to suddenly create a perfect image with radiant light. All agreed that, with all of the technological advances in film made over the past few decades and computer-generated imagery capable of manifesting virtually anything, nothing could match the perfection which nature herself bestowed upon that landscape.

“That’s why we go to such locations,” confirmed Jerry Bruckheimer, “for exactly such moments as that.” “Kauai was phenomenally beautiful and perfect for us,” adds Geoffrey Rush, “because we were shooting in really surreal-looking bamboo forests and finding wild and rugged cliff faces and extraordinary jungle. It added so much to the film.”

The final location in Kauai before the “On Stranger Tides” army moved to Oahu had its own honored pop history…the shuttered remains of the legendary Coco Palms Hotel near Kapa’a, one of the primary locations for Elvis Presley’s “Blue Hawaii” and the very place where he sang the title song in that early ’60s classic. Marshall and company shot in the vast coconut grove for which the hotel was named, with 773 palms harvested before filming to prevent the heavy fruits from falling on the hapless heads of cast and crew. The harvested coconuts were then taken by local residents to take full advantage of the nourishing meat and milk of the tropical fruits.

And for good measure, Geoffrey Rush hosted a screening of “Blue Hawaii” for several of his friends in his Kauai hotel room. “We recast every part in the film with actors from ‘Pirates,’” recalls screenwriter Terry Rossio, “and, of course, Elvis would be Johnny Depp!”

Almost one month to the day that shooting began in Kauai, the company island-hopped to Oahu, “The Gathering Place.” Once again, Mother Nature provided Bruckheimer, Marshall and John Myhre with most of their required backdrops, albeit with numerous revisions by the art department. Much of the filming in Oahu was out on the deep blue open waters of Hawaii, with the Queen Anne’s Revenge, in all its terrifying glory, docked at either Barbers Point—very near where Disney’s new Aulani resort began construction at much the same time, a stone’s throw away at Ko Olina—or, more often, the Heeia Kea Boat Dock in Kaneohe. Here, it became a nightly tradition for hundreds of spectators, either locals or tourists from the U.S. mainland or as far away as Japan, to assemble in a controlled area for a glimpse of Johnny Depp and the other cast members, and the beloved star never disappointed them.

Night after night, Depp, fully arrayed as Captain Jack, stopped by the barricades on his way to the Queen Anne’s Revenge to greet the fans, shaking hands, posing for pictures, getting kissed a great deal, and letting everyone know how much their support was appreciated. Aloha was met with aloha, and as word spread of Depp’s graciousness, the crowds grew larger by the night. They were also mesmerized by the sight of the ship, off in the distance, shrouded in movie fog and smoke and surrounded by camera and support craft from Marine Coordinators Bruce Ross and Dan Malone’s department, just wondering what on earth was happening aboard.

In fact, what was happening much of the time was an exciting sequence in which Jack Sparrow leads a mutiny against Blackbeard, with less-than-expected results. “We were taken out on little boats to the ship,” recalls British actor Paul Bazely, who portrays Salaman, “which was all lit up with these beautiful, huge lights. There was smoke blowing; the torches were all lit with flame. I walked onto set, and they said, ‘Right, Paul, this is the part where you climb down the rigging, attack so-and-so, you pull them up here, and you tie them up. Pictures up, roll camera.’ And suddenly, hundreds of people start screaming and shouting, and swords are clashing, so it’s very exciting. You’re fighting on a deck that they specially wet down to make it look realistic, and it was really slippery. But it was an amazing experience being on board with our brilliant stunt team. It was intense; let me put it like that!”

On land, the filmmakers selected one of the most legendary beaches in Oahu for day scenes at Whitecap Bay, the site of the mermaid attack on Captain Jack and a coterie of Blackbeard’s pirates: Halona Cove, aka “Eternity Beach,” where Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr shared their famous snog in the sand in 1953’s “From Here to Eternity.” Although just off the main coastal road about 20 minutes south of Waikiki, Halona Cove is nonetheless very difficult to access, because there’s no actual path leading down to the beach. Everyone in the company had to stealthily and carefully make their way down a steep gradation of slippery stones, not easy for those crewmen carrying heavy equipment. The nearby Halona Lookout presented a similar challenge for Depp, Cruz, Rush and other cast and crew.

Production Designer John Myhre’s biggest “build” in Oahu were the atmospheric mermaid pools on the grounds of the North Shore’s Turtle Bay Resort, although so tucked away that the tourists and revelers at the actual hotel had no idea of the nightly shoot with Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Sam Claflin and various and sundry pirates and zombies. “We were shooting so many jungle sequences,” notes John Myhre, “that we just needed to find as many different looks as we could to show the journey. Rob Marshall put it nicely when he said that our journey through the jungle in the movie should be like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride … that every time you go around the bend, you have a new tableau.”

Adding to the mermaid pools’ eerie atmosphere were 13 chillingly realistic mermaid skeletons, created by makeup and makeupeffects department head Joel Harlow.

“The only way we would release ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ in 3D,” states Jerry Bruckheimer, “is if the film was actually filmed in 3D. This was very important to both Rob Marshall and me, because what we want to do is to give the audience a completely immersive experience in crystal-clear 3D that brings them right into the action, not hurt their eyeballs. And this is one of the first big adventure films to shoot in 3D on location rather than against green screen or entirely on soundstages.

With this one, we are actually in the jungles, on the beaches and on the streets of 18th-century London. “It’s a much different experience when you have to deal with the elements with two cameras rather than one, so it takes more time and adds to your budget,” Bruckheimer continues. “But shooting in digital 3D gives real dimension and size to the movie.”

“We felt very much like pioneers, I have to say,” adds Marshall, “because rarely has a film taken 3D cameras into these remote locations. We took these delicate cameras into locations like jungles, beaches, caves and ships. It was a challenge. We discovered a lot on our feet as we were going.”

Shooting in 3D presented numerous challenges to Director of Photography Dariusz Wolski (who had served in that capacity on all three previous “Pirates of the Caribbean” films on 2D 35mm film and whose collaborations with Jerry Bruckheimer go all the way back to “Crimson Tide”). “Jerry really threw a curveball at me when he said that we should shoot ‘On Stranger Tides’ in 3D,” Wolski admits. “It was a fairly new technology, and other big adventure films, like ‘Avatar,’ had been done primarily in the computer. No one had really done a movie from beginning to end, physically on location, in 3D. And especially a movie like ‘On Stranger Tides,’ which required exotic locations, big seats, boats, jungles, beaches and all the natural environments.

“It was very ambitious, and very scary,” Wolski continues, “because although everyone wants to make 3D movies, it wasn’t really figured out. We shot with two RED cameras rigged together, one shooting into a mirror. Everything has to be electronically coordinated, so there are a lot of cables, scientists and computers all over the set, and we also had a 3D monitor that we used to analyze the imagery while we were filming.”

The highly evolved RED cameras also allowed Wolski to film 3D with great attention to historic detail and lighting. “We’re trying to be very true to the period in retaining candle and natural light, as you see in 18th-century paintings. The RED is remarkable when it comes to low light level, which people relate to, as they do to a beautiful sunset,” adds Wolski.

As for the artful usage of 3D in “On Stranger Tides,” Dave Drzewiecki, the on-set stereographer, notes, “You can poke people in the eyes with spears and shoot water at the lens, but that’s not really what this movie’s about. It’s actually a very immersive and, in many ways, subtle use of the 3D experience, and it’s much grander in its depth.”

“There’s no one better at creating action than George Marshall Ruge,” says Jerry Bruckheimer of the stunt coordinator/ department head and second unit director who had previously devoted his skills to the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies as well as the two “National Treasure” hits (not to mention Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy).

“This particular ‘Pirates’ movie has more of the vibe of the first film, very much character-driven, especially by Johnny as Captain Jack,” says Ruge. “I’m very comfortable designing action for that character. I feel like I know him like a family member. And then we have the new characters, and it was important for me to get a handle on them and to make sure that we blended those characterizations together in a way that animates the story.”

Ruge and his key collaborators in the stunt department, including Assistant Stunt Coordinator Daniel Barringer, Sword Master (and Stunt Double) Thomas Dupont, UK Stunt Coordinator Greg Powell and Head Stunt Rigger Kurt Lott, created a range of elaborate set pieces which often defied the laws of gravity, including Captain Jack’s 25-foot leap off a jungle cliff in Kauai and another dive off an exploding lighthouse in the Whitecap Bay scene, an intricately choreographed sword fight inside the Captain Daughter pub’s vast two-level storeroom, the thrilling carriage chase through the streets of London, the rigging of the Queen Anne’s Revenge coming to life and hoisting mutinous pirates up to the yardarms, the unprecedented mermaid attack sequence and a monumental climax at the Fountain of Youth (which Ruge began rehearsing with his stunt team in March but didn’t begin filming until October). For filming in England, Ruge and Powell enlisted no fewer than 100 stunt players.

The leading players certainly enjoyed the physicality of their roles. “All my great heroes were basically silent-film guys, where they didn’t have the luxury of words,” notes Depp, whose dexterous performances throughout his career have amply displayed his balletic physicality.

“I did two months of training in Los Angeles before filming began with George and his amazing team of people,” adds Penélope Cruz. “They taught me to lose the fear and how to be 100-percent alert.”

“You know, ‘Pirates’ has taken up seven years of my life, so I feel protective of it,” concludes George Ruge. “When you put that kind of time into anything, you want it to be memorable.”

With 106 first-unit days of filming completed on November 18, 2010, it was then up to Jerry Bruckheimer, Rob Marshall, John DeLuca and Associate Producer/post-production maestro Pat Sandston to marshal their vast team of film editors, sound- and visual- effects artists, Composer Hans Zimmer and others to complete the film in a pressure- cooker six months before its mid/ late May 2011 openings around the world.

Zimmer had already given Captain Jack and the gallery of “Pirates of the Caribbean” characters their distinctive musical sound in the three previous films, creating full-bodied orchestral scores which managed to walk the tightrope between the stirringly traditional in grand Hollywood tradition and simultaneously innovative, imaginative and adventurous.

“I love writing music and coming up with new themes,” he notes, having already created memorable leitmotifs for the likes of Captain Jack, Barbossa, Will and Elizabeth and Davy Jones in the previous films. “It gets trickier because the style was established very quickly in the first one, and then suddenly you start falling into things and start identifying the new characters in a musical way. Then it just starts rolling again, and you begin getting fresh ideas.”

“You try to treat each film as an autonomous movie,” Zimmer continues, “but at the same time, there’s great fun in revisiting old friends, as it were. We now have Penélope Cruz playing Angelica, who’s Spanish, so I felt that there could be some Latin influences in the score for ‘On Stranger Tides.’ I’ve been a big fan of Mexican guitarists Rodrigo y Gabriela for years now, and I asked them if they wanted to come and play with us. We’ve been having a really great time with them being part of the musical world this film gets to inhabit.”

For all of his years as a film music composer, Zimmer, a keen student of world music, has often brilliantly interwoven ethnic sounds into many of his scores, from African (“A World Apart,” “The Power of One,” Disney’s “The Lion King,” Jerry Bruckheimer’s “Black Hawk Down”) to Asian (“Black Rain,” “The Last Samurai,” “Kung Fu Panda”) and beyond. But as one who started his career as a rock musician in The Buggles, Zimmer has maintained his links to that world. “I always saw ‘Pirates’ as rock-and-roll scores,” notes the composer, “because pirates were sort of the rock-and-rollers of the past. Rodrigo y Gabriela are basically flamenco guitarists, but they come from metal music and very much inhabit the rock-and-roll world as well. So it was a perfect fit between us and them.”

“It’s very exciting because it’s the first official invitation for us to collaborate with a great composer for a film,” says the duo’s Gabriela. “That’s very different from what we usually do. All of a sudden, we are here, building all this music from scratch. It’s very challenging and very inspiring to work on.”

In the end, as Bruckheimer notes, the best memories of shooting “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” are “the relationships with the cast and crew. Johnny is back, Geoffrey and Kevin are back, and now there are new friendships with Rob, John [DeLuca], Penélope, Ian, Sam and Astrid. The fun of it is making new friends and working with them.”

Director Rob Marshall sums up, “It was a grand adventure on-screen and off. Each moment as we were making this film, whether it was in Hawaii or London or wherever we were, I believe everyone felt part of this unique experience.”

Key territories included the United Kingdom ($19.5 million), Germany ($19.4 million), Japan ($18.2 million), France ($14.8 million), South Korea ($12 million), Italy ($11.5 million), Australia ($10.3 million), Spain ($10 million), Mexico ($9.8 million) and Brazil ($6.1 million).

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides off-set its domestic franchise dip with an unprecedented estimated $256.3 million foreign debut. That topped Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as the highest-grossing start ever overseas, and it was also up 20 percent from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’s $216 million.

Further illustrating their rapid growth and increased importance to the foreign marketplace, Russia and China were Pirates’s top territories with $28.6 million and $20 million, respectively. On Stranger Tides is already the top Pirates movie ever in China, and it’s just a day or two away from reaching that mark in Russia as well.

The movie also had strong launches throughout the rest of Europe and Asia, and set industry records in Latin America, the Middle East, Norway, Turkey and Ukraine. Key territories included the United Kingdom ($19.5 million), Germany ($19.4 million), Japan ($18.2 million), France ($14.8 million), South Korea ($12 million), Italy ($11.5 million), Australia ($10.3 million), Spain ($10 million), Mexico ($9.8 million) and Brazil ($6.1 million).

Including its $90.1 million domestic take, On Stranger Tides registered a $346.4 million worldwide start. That ranked slightly ahead of At World’s End but behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($381.6 million) among worldwide launches.

The big question now is whether On Stranger Tides can surpass At World’s End’s $654 million overseas total. It’s obviously off to a strong start, though it will likely fade fast over the coming weeks against stiff competition from The Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda 2 and X-Men: First Class.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides swooped in with the top-grossing weekend of the year so far. The supernatural swashbuckler claimed an estimated $90.1 million at 4,155 locations, edging out Fast Five’s $86.2 million launch. That was also the 12th highest-grossing May opening ever, but, since close to half of On Stranger Tides’ gross was from 3D presentations at a record 2,747 locations (and due to today’s general ticket prices), its estimated attendance level would rank 27th.

Relative to its predecessors, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides sank: At World’s End drew $114.7 million on its first weekend in May 2007 (not including $13.2 million in Thursday night previews), while Dead Man’s Chest raked in a then-record $135.6 million opening weekend back in July 2006. Adjusted for ticket price inflation, those grosses would be the equivalent of $131 million and $163 million, respectively. Since the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was the franchise establisher, its early grosses were in a lower league, though still bustling ($70.6 million in its five-day launch, or $92 million adjusted). On Stranger Tides’s start was also less than that of the last Johnny Depp spectacle Alice in Wonderland, which began with $116.1 million.

On the plus side, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ opening held better relative to its predecessor than Shrek Forever After’s did on the same weekend last year. On Stranger Tides was always destined to debut lower than At World’s End and Dead Man’s Chest, given the mixed reaction to those movies and how the audience lost interest with At World’s End. Sealing the deal was On Stranger Tides’ lower key approach: it came off as just another Pirates movie in its marketing and lacked stand-out visual and character moments. Distributor Walt Disney Pictures’ exit polling indicated that 54 percent of On Stranger Tides’ audience was male and 54 percent was over 25 years old (the age 26-34 group was most represented at 24 percent, followed by 18-25 with 22 percent).

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The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy represents the very essence of why legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer makes moves.

“I love Pirates because there are very few films you can take your children to and you can all enjoy the experience. It is rare,” he says. “And, you know, I have made enough money, I don’t have to do this anymore. But I do it to entertain people and a movie like this really entertains people on a global basis and that is a real thrill.”

When the first Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was released in 2003 it was a critical and box office triumph. Now Bruckheimer has re-untied his team – director Gore Verbinski, cast Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom and indeed crew – to make Pirates 2, Dead Man’s Chest, and Pirates 3, virtually back to back.

“If that had not all come together – same director, same cast and crew,” he reflects. “I don’t think we would be here right now.”

Bruckheimer reveals that he was thinking of a sequel when the first Pirates was being filmed – long before, of course, it become a box office phenomenon. At that time, a skeptical media was casting doubts on the commercial chances of a film based on a theme park ride. How wrong they were.

“And it wasn’t until the picture started making steam that we got the studio to say “Yeah, let’s go! Start writing another one!” Johnny loves the character and he’ll tell you that and he was excited about coming back.”

Bruckheimer isn’t gloating – his remarkable track record speaks for itself – just delighted that a project he clearly adores is back with a massive fan base anxious to discover what happens to lovable rogue Jack Sparrow (Depp) and young lovers Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) and Will Turner (Bloom).

“The anticipation for the movie is very high,” he says. “We feel that there is real want and need to see a continuation and since we have created what we consider a full story between the three movies – because everything that you will see in the second and third movie really relate to the first – it’s created a real arc and a real trilogy for the three films.”

Indeed, such is Bruckheimer’s enthusiasm for the project he would quite happily make a further three films. He certainly wants the ships used in the movies, The Black Pearl – pirate Jack Sparrow’s ship – and The Flying Dutchman, to be kept shipshape and Bristol fashion just in case.

“Hopefully, we’ll make more,” he says. “Hopefully Disney will save these ships, unlike last time, and save the sets and we can continue another trilogy – another three films. I would love to do that but it’s not my money.

“Johnny loves the character and he’d love to play it. He has a fan base at home; his two kids love it. So that’s a good start.”

Bruckheimer, 60, is one of the most successful producers in Hollywood. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he started his career producing television commercials before moving on to films with his partner, the late Don Simpson.

His list of credits is truly remarkable – ranging from American Gigolo, Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Bad Boys, Crimson Tide, Con Air and Armageddon amongst many others, in the seventies, eighties and nineties. More recently, he has produced Gone In Sixty Seconds, Pearl Harbour, King Arthur and Glory Road.

This interview was conducted on set at the Universal Studios biggest sound stage.

Was it a risk to make these movies back to back?

It’s made around $600m in revenue, just in theatrical revenue not counting DVDs and all the other stuff, so it’s a pretty good bet. Especially if you can get the same writers back, the same directors, the same director and the same cast and had that not all come together I don’t think we would be here right now.

Did everyone commit to the project straight away? When did you decide to make two and three?

We were thinking about it while we were making the first one but the studio wasn’t. Then the press was slamming us for making a movie about a theme park ride that involved pirates because pirates were a dead issue at the box office – at least in the past. And it wasn’t until the picture started making steam that we got the studio to say “Yeah, let’s go! Start writing another one!” And Johnny loves the character and he’ll tell you that and he was excited about coming back.

You actually do have a bit of a break in between two and three. There was the two month hiatus and then in early 2006 Gore will have to go off and finish editing number two. What was the thinking behind that?

Well, first of all Gore needed time to edit the movie so he needed the two months to cut the two together and then jump to three and you don’t want the audience to over dose on it too, give them too much, so we thought the year apart was good as far as generating more interest. Plus, you have the DVD coming out and revitalising two, before three comes out. So it was a good plan from a business point of view

It must be an added bonus that both Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley have become bigger stars since the first movie?

Yeah, it’s great. The anticipation for the movie is very high. We feel that there is real want and need to see a continuation and since we have created what we consider a full story between the three movies -because everything that you will see in the second and third movie really relate to the first – it’s created a real arc and a real trilogy for the three films.

Is there more pressure after having so much success with the first one?

I feel pressure on every project even the tiny ones. I feel pressure every time I take somebody else’s money and try to get a good return on it. So sure.

You’ve worked on so many different movies- big scale, small scale. How does this compare? Is this the biggest so far?

Yeah I think it is the biggest undertaking that I have ever done. I’m doing two movies back to back plus all of the other things, ten television series and there are two other movies that we are currently working on. This is a big chunk of my time, let’s put it that way.

Q: The first film was a great surprise and no one knew what to expect. But now we kind of know what Johnny’s performance is going to be like. How do you conquer that and still make it surprising?

Well it’s all about story telling. It’s all about really good story telling. We have a new character, we have a number of new characters and we have a creature. It is a bigger, funnier, more exciting script. You don’t know how the movie is going to turn out but I know the script is wonderful and the dailies and cut footage I’ve seen seem terrific. I don’t make the decisions about what you spend money on when you go the theatre, you do,. So whether you’re going to spend your six or ten bucks to go and see Pirates, I don’t know. But I hope you will.

How much input did you have in the scripts?

Well it `s a team; Gore, the writers, myself, my group of executives all work on it together. It’s certainly a vision by the writers and by Gore. The writers came up with the ideas and the new characters for the second and third films then Gore certainly worked on it and embellished it as did our company. It’s a team. But it’s the writers who are the driving force creatively, along with Gore…

Whose decision was it to cast Chow Yun-Fat in the third film?

I think it was a combination of Gore and myself and the writers. He’s just a wonderful actor and he is a real gentleman .I’m thrilled to be able to work with him.

Is the Asian element in the third part an attempt on your part to tap into the huge Asian audience?

Well we had a huge Asian audience for the first one . It did really well out there and we kind of wanted to give them something too. Why not? We really did well in Japan, Hong Kong and all those markets.

The first Pirates introduced Johnny Depp to a much wider audience…

Yeah, sure, Disney made a PG13 movie for the first time and parents thought �Well, it’s a Disney label, maybe my 10 year old can see it.’ Before most of Johnny’s pictures were R rated, or wonderful artistic endeavours, that were not big crowd pullers. But, suddenly kids knew who Johnny was. And we’ve got kids now who want to be Johnny Depp ; 8 year olds running around in pirate hats and swords. Pirate costumes are the most bought costumes now.

Is there going to be a whole lot of merchandise to go with the film?

I hope so because there wasn’t much on the first one. It caught Disney by surprise.

Is the script now driven by something that you can merchandise?

I don’t think we look at it that way, but I think we’ll probably take advantage of everything we have in there in terms of merchandising it. For example, we have a dice game that’s a lot of fun and hopefully we’ll get some company who can do the same dice game. It shows up in the Pirates Two.

Why have you employed so many British actors?

A number of reasons. One they’re really good. I like good actors and they are very talented and this kind movie really lends itself to that. An American accent probably wouldn’t work too well in this movie. So I think it is that old fashion kind of English drawl that they have. It is perfect for a pirate movie.

Do you have to pay your professional cast a little bit more than in the first part?

Yeah, you are absolutely right (laughs)

What are the advantages of a sequel?

For a studio it gives them confidence that there is an audience that is pre-sold. So, if you liked the first one, chances are that you’ll sample the second.

What is the key to controlling a film like this?

Nothing is ever under control. I’m not under control. I can’t control my wife! (laughter) Let alone anything else.

But it’s a big movie?

Yes, as a movie it’s got a lot of moving parts and it is doing quite well. Some parts break down and you fix them. But as, as a movie of this size it’s as good as you can imagine. You don’t know because tomorrow something could happen that you just hope doesn’t happen. I was getting ready to make a movie in New Orleans, and we were supposed to start last October, obviously we didn’t g at that time. So you never know what can happen on a film. But it all comes down to the director and we have a wonderful director and he is very prepared. He knows what he wants to do and most of his big action sequences are pre planned. He’s got IOM working with him and they’re wonderful. So for this size, it is going quite well.

What parts have broken down on Pirates?

Every day something breaks down. I don’t think any major parts. We had a storm in the Caribbean. We built this tank and the depth was down to 25ft and the sand came in and we had to re dig it and put a retaining wall in. But things like that happen on a daily basis: a ship won’t be ready on time, an actor gets sick. We had an actor get sick and he couldn’t fly from England. Those things happen. But it is just part of it being a big movie. I don’t see that as a detriment,. When you have been doing it as long as I have, you just see it as daily events.

What can you tell us about the story? What’s the overview?

Well basically the overview is that the East India Trading Company, which you sort of met in the first movie, has come to Port Royal to take over the seas and make the seas free of pirates and the first thing they do is arrest everybody associated with letting Johnny go and so that’s the beginning. And this character, Beckett is the major villain in the piece. He is trying to get rid of all the pirates. It is kind of like Wal-Mart eating up all the independents you know, so he wants to get rid of all the privateers. And then Johnny made a deal in order to get the Black Pearl before the first movie started, with Davy Jones, the legendary character who lives under the sea. They agreed Johnny could have the Black Pearl for 10 years but then he owed his soul to Davy Jones. And now it’s 10 years and Davy Jones has come back to claim Johnny, and Johnny doesn’t want to go. So he has got to figure out a deal to get him away from Davy Jones. And Davy Jones, because he can’t find Johnny, sends this creature. He’s been living under the sea forever and all his tentacles move and he smokes a pipe. (Played by Bill Nighy).

And how often have you sat down with Keith Richards to discuss him appearing in Pirates 3?

I never have. Johnny has, not me.

Are you still hopeful that it`ll happen?

Well, we’ve got some schedule problems with his tour, so we’ll see.

Does the ending of two leave you having to see three, or is it kind of completed?

I think there is an emotional ending to it. But then there’s something else that happens. It will certainly make you want to come back.

Could you translate this to TV?

You could do anything but hopefully we’ll make more. Hopefully Disney will save these ships, unlike last time, and save the sets and we can continue another trilogy. Another three films. I would love to do that but it’s not my money.

And Johnny has already indicated as well that he would do more…

Yeah, he loves the character and he’d love to play it. He has a fan base at home; his two kids love it. So, that’s a good start.

And so once the third part is over there’s a consideration of doing a 4th and 5th?

Yeah I would love to. But I don’t write the cheques.

You’ve made a lot of films, what is it that you love so much about Pirates?

I love Pirates there are very few films you can take your children to and you can all enjoy the experience. it is rare. Normally we dumb down things for kids and you are sitting there thinking, “I can’t wait to get out of here.” You’re thinking about everything but the movie and something like this comes along and you just get such a broad audience and it is not just a movie here for Americans, it’s bigger elsewhere in the world. And it’s the reason I do this. I have made enough money, I don’t have to do this anymore. But I do it to entertain people and a movie like this really entertains people on a global basis and that is a real thrill to be able to do this – take people away from their lives for a couple of hours and make them feel good, make them feel something. Let them watch something that engages them, where they like the characters and they want to be with the characters and that is a lot of fun.

Are there plans to modify the actual rides in Disneyland?

I know they are doing some alterations to the ride that I think will be open around the time of the movie at least in California, and maybe in Florida, too. I don’t know about the rest of them, but I know they are making some alterations.

Are you on set much yourself?

I try to come by here once a day. But I have so many other responsibilities too. And when they’re out of town I try to go out for a week and then come back for a week. But I do love being with the actors, it’s just that we have so many other things.

With Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest set for release in just a few weeks, it’s time to grab the popcorn and get ready for the return of the best or — depending on your point of view — the worst pirate in history.

Yes, Captain Jack is back, with Johnny Depp taking another turn as Hollywood’s most eccentric but best-dressed pirate, and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) along for the ride in another adventure full of intrigue, comedy and the supernatural.

Among the many pleasures of the first Pirates film, aside from Johnny Depp’s deservedly Oscar-nominated performance, were the cleverly staged sword fights and action sequences which were often as witty and elegant as they were thrilling. The man behind the action is George Marshall Ruge, sometime poet, screenwriter and actor, and the stunt coordinator on both the Pirates films already in the can and the third one to come.

Ruge’s previous credits include National Treasure and all three of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. “The whole cast and crew have really poured their hearts and souls into the Pirates films,” says Ruge, who talked to us about heat, humidity, Johnny Depp’s skills with a sword and the perils of working on water.

How would you compare Dead Man’s Chest to the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, The Curse of the Black Pearl?

I think people will be surprised by Dead Man’s Chest. This second film is visually stunning and the action is unique and oftentimes epic in scope. It’s a bit darker in some ways perhaps, but it’s also got all the charm, wit and good fun that made the first film so memorable.

As for your involvement in the film – action and stunts — did it seem challenging to top what you did in the first film?

I think it’s a huge mistake approaching work from the aspect of trying to top yourself, particularly in terms of action. If you take that approach, you’re simply creating action for action’s sake. It’s gratuitous. The challenge in this film, as in any film, was to create action that’s part of the fabric of the story.

Well, the first Pirates film certainly had some amazing action sequences, like the opening fight between Captain Jack (Johnny Depp) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom). Do you have a favorite scene in Dead Man’s Chest?

There’s a 3-way swordfight that was the most challenging and personally rewarding scene in the film. It involves Jack, Will and Norrington (Jack Davenport) fighting with each other along a white sand bar in the middle of the ocean. The scene has a real panoramic look. The fight leads them to an abandoned church and continues along the ruined, skeletal walls and they end up on this huge mill wheel, which breaks free and rolls through the jungle, eventually landing them all back on the beach.

It sounds exhausting just hearing about it.

It wasn’t easy, but we’re all proud of the result. The actors and stunt doubles had to endure sand the consistency of a milk shake, intense heat and humidity, working high up with an elaborate overhead cable system, and dealing with the mill wheel, which was eighteen feet across, weighed eighteen hundred pounds and did a complete revolution in sixteen seconds.

Is it possible to quantify how much work goes into a scene like that?

Literally months of prep, training, rigging, rehearsals, etc., and it felt like twenty-four hours a day to me because it was never out of my mind. As for the filming itself, between the first and second units it probably took the best part of six weeks.

Both Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom have had experience of sword fighting before, and not just on Pirates of the Caribbean. Are they old pros at this point?

Every film presents new challenges but Johnny is a natural athlete and fortunately a very quick study because the demands on his time, as with all of the principal actors, limited rehearsal opportunities. I’ve now done six films with Orlando, including the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and he is very comfortable and skilled with the sword.

Do you try and design things so Captain Jack and Will Turner fight in a way that reflects their characters?

Absolutely. I focus on character first. For example, although we all know that Captain Jack can and does fight, I want there to be the overriding sense in any fight that if there were an easier way out of a situation, then he’d take it. Captain Jack has no interest in being a hero for the sake of it, whereas with Will Turner there’s no hanging back. He’s unafraid and willing to die for what’s right. Johnny starts tweaking his physical action to suit Captain Jack, processing and incorporating his character into every movement and detail from the very beginning, which is fascinating to see.

Are Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom enthusiastic about the action scenes?

Both of them want to do the best they can and they both approach the action scenes with great passion. On the other hand, I’m sure there are days when they would rather be doing dialogue in a scene that’s purely romantic or comic than being strapped inside a giant rotating wheel in 120-degree heat and humidity! That’s sort of a no-brainer.

Keira Knightley expressed frustration that she didn’t get to do enough action in The Curse of the Black Pearl. Does she make up for it in Dead Man’s Chest?

Keira certainly can’t be frustrated over a lack of action anymore! She is as much an action hero in this film as anybody and a very bright blade. She had worked on King Arthur prior to the start of Dead Man’s Chest and she’s simply a great athlete and has a near photographic memory in terms of learning choreography. To be honest, I think she was probably just a bit apprehensive when she saw the extent and complexity of the scenes we had put together. But Keira being Keira, that apprehension quickly transformed itself into determination and she pulled it all off fantastically.

Given that classic sword fights are less common than they were in Hollywood’s Golden Age, is it hard for you to find the additional actors and stunt doubles you need for a film which is on as big a scale as Pirates of the Caribbean?

Yes, it is hard. There was a time when all trained actors and stunt performers had a background in �stage combat� and fencing, now they just say they do! On the other hand, we’ve just gone through a cycle of period films inspired by films like Gladiator and the Lord of the Rings trilogy and that’s given performers a good reason to become better versed in the art of sword work.

How many stunt performers did you use for Dead Man’s Chest and do they substitute for the principal actors where possible?

There were over 80 stunt performers, and it’s hard to generalize about when they stand in for the lead actors. There are so many factors involved, with safety being the main consideration, as well as actors’ willingness to perform their own stunts. Luckily, all the leads on the Pirates films have being willing and able.

How does working in or on water complicate what you do?

Wind, rain, waves and tides can turn a good plan into a disaster! On this film we had hurricane evacuations and some very rough seas. When we had a rolling swell, the ships would sway wildly – the masts would go backwards and forwards as much as 40 feet. During what we called the Scuttled Ship sequence the crew had to find space on the partially submerged end of the ship and most of us were knee high in sea water and had a hard time standing up in the swell. By the end of the night the seas had worsened, everyone’s rain gear was wet through, we were frozen to the bone and our feet were pickled from being in the salt water.

Q. How do you think the Pirates films sit in relation to the rest of the films you have worked on? The most interesting? The most challenging? The most enjoyable?

It’s an interesting question and one I should probably answer when we complete the third film! To put it in perspective, when the Pirates’ trilogy is complete, I will have spent over three years of my professional life devoted to its well-being and success. For all of us who committed from the beginning and persevered to the end, it’s without a doubt a significant piece of our lives and a professional milestone. Has it been interesting? Definitely. Challenging? Enormously. The most enjoyable? Certainly not! [laughs]. But the question you didn’t ask is, Has it been worthwhile? And there’s no doubt about that. I think all of the trench warriors of the Pirates cast and crew have been through so many emotions and had so many varied experiences making these films, but the finished films are the ultimate reward.

He may be, depending on your point of view, the best or worst pirate in history, but there’s no doubt that he’s also the most entertaining (and most fashionable).

Yes, Johnny Depp is back for another turn as Captain Jack Sparrow in the soon-to-be-released Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, the second installment (of three) in the rollicking adventures of the dandy, rum-loving pirate and his unlikely allies, the idealistic Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and feisty Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley).

What better time then to have a look at the fact behind the fiction and find out if Hollywood’s most dashing pirate could really have cut it on the high seas?

Did the pirates of history wear earrings and make their victims walk the plank?

Did they really obey the pirate code (more a set of guidelines) that played such a key part in the plot of the first Pirates film, The Curse of the Black Pearl?

Peter Twist, an expert on 18th century history and the historical and technical adviser on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, answered our questions about the pirates of history, their Hollywood counterparts, and the difference between the two.

Honor among thieves

Pirates may be notorious for being bloodthirsty and lawless, but, like Captain Jack and Captain Barbossa in The Curse of the Black Pearl, they still lived life aboard ship according to a strict set of codes. Before setting sail, crews often signed a contract establishing the division of booty and compensation for injuries sustained in combat (800 Pieces of Eight for the loss of a limb). Unlike the regular navy, pirate ships often elected their captains (and replaced them mid-voyage if they fell from favour).

Punishments were clearly defined and harsh: smoking in the hold without a cover on your pipe could get you forty lashes; for planning to desert his ship a pirate could expect to be marooned on a small island with one flask of water, a bottle of rum, one gun and one bullet. Says Peter Twist: “The captain and crew were more or less equal to one another. The code, which would vary from ship to ship, would cover everything from dividing up the treasure, sort of like today’s profit-sharing schemes, to general standards of behavior. Some ships were quite puritanical: no gambling, no drinking, etc, etc.”

The Skull and Crossbones

“Pirate flags in general were either red or black,” says Twist, “and they play a significant role in Dead Man’s Chest. “Pirates really did fly the traditional Skull and Crossbones too (as does the Black Pearl) although there were many variations on the best-known pirate flag and its origins are unclear. “The death’s head or skeletons or the devil were very common images on flags,” says Twist. “Basically anything that would let intended victims know that something bad would happen to them if they resisted.” When they weren’t flying the Skull and Crossbones, pirates weren’t averse to flying the Union Jack or French or Spanish flags to suggest friendly intentions as they approached their prey.

Buried Treasure

“The real-life Captain Kidd famously buried treasure when he knew he was going to be tried as a pirate,” says Twist. “But basically pirates would spend their money as they got it by going into the nearest port and drinking it all away. Typical pirates weren’t usually lucky enough to get their hands on much gold or silver either. They’d take any ship that they happened to come across and it might be carrying some less glamorous cargo, like food supplies for example, so they’d just take what they could.” Between groceries and buried treasure however, Hollywood has usually gone for the buried treasure. As for the final resting place of Captain Kidd’s loot, it’s still to be found.

Pirate Fashion

Just like Captain Jack, real-life pirates and sailors did wear earrings, though not just to look dashing. Back in the 17th and 18th centuries it was generally believed that piercing the ears with silver and gold improved one’s eyesight (oddly enough contemporary scientific studies — and acupuncturists — have suggested there may be some truth to the idea). “As for their clothes, pirates wore what they could get their hands on, “Twist explains. “If there was a high-born person onboard a ship they captured they’d just help themselves to their clothes. So if they were somewhat extravagant dressers, like Captain Jack, they’d have plenty of opportunities. There was a real-life pirate called Bartholomew Roberts who was renowned for his fine clothes.”

Hooks and peg legs

There aren’t any hooks or peg legs in Pirates of the Caribbean,” says Twist, “but usually Hollywood can’t resist them.” The idea of pirates using hooks to replace missing hands became a stereotype after the success of the fictional Peter Pan, while pirates with peg legs were popularized by Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic Treasure Island. The majority of real-life pirates who lost hands or legs in combat probably died of a subsequent infection (pirate ships didn’t have doctors). The survivors were often put to work in the ship’s kitchen. “People with missing limbs wouldn’t have been much use in combat,” Twist explains. Meanwhile, fans of Johnny Depp will remember that he played Captain Hook (and his creator James Barrie) in the hit film Finding Neverland.

Keeping Clean

Pirates would bathe in seawater,” Twist explains, “but they certainly weren’t what we’d call clean by today’s standards.” Fresh water was a luxury on a ship and wouldn’t have been used for washing. There were generally no toilets onboard either (just a hole in a plank). The dirty water that sloshed around at the bottom of a ship (the bilges) gave off the odour of rotting fish and the livestock kept onboard didn’t help matters either.

Parrots on the Shoulder

Pets were popular on ships but it had to be something that wouldn’t need too much care or food, “ Twist says. “Barbossa’s monkey and the parrot who talks for the mute in The Curse of the Black Pearl would live on table scraps, so are probably quite typical. “ Still, a parrot on the shoulder would be a little messy and during lean times at sea a parrot might well substitute for a chicken in the cooking pot. More common and unwanted shipboard companions were rats, fleas and poisonous spiders.

Food

As Twist explained, being cook on board a pirate ship was a lowly position often given to a crew member no longer fit to fight. The reluctant chef didn’t have many ingredients to work with either: usually hard crackers made of flour and water and some dried or salted meat. Cattle, sheep, chicken and pigs would be brought on board at the start of journeys to provide some fresh meat, as would fresh vegetables, but, as Twist points out, they wouldn’t last for the length of an entire voyage.

Drink

Surprisingly enough, tea and coffee were drunk aboard pirate ships, but, like Captain Jack, pirates generally preferred rum. “Welcome to the Caribbean, love,” says Jack in the first film, proffering a bottle of rum to Keira Knightley. Small amounts of rum, or other spirits, were often added to the stale and filthy water on board ship to take away the taste. A large amount of rum was an antidote to boredom and the tough conditions of the pirate’s life. “One famously unsuccessful pirate captain, Jack Rackham, was actually captured because his crew was too drunk to fight,” Twist says. Bartholomew Roberts, the famous teetotaler pirate, was definitely the exception to the rule.

Walking the Plank

Walking the plank – as Elizabeth and Jack do in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – was probably not as common a form of punishment among real-life pirates as it is in Hollywood. On the whole pirates probably preferred the swifter and simpler method of the “heave to” — simply tossing their unfortunate victims overboard – or came up with things much grislier than walking the plank. “Often pirates would consult with the crews of the ships they captured and if the captain had a reputation for being brutal, they’d come up with some truly nasty punishment for him,” Twist explains.

Pirate terms

Whether a real life pirate ever said, “Shiver me timbers” is unclear (it’s the parrot’s line in The Curse of the Black Pearl). But like all sailors of the time, Twist explains, they did call non-seafaring folk “landlubbers”; they did “swab” (clean) the deck and drink “grog” (rum mixed with water). “Davy Jones” was sailor slang for the evil spirits that lurked in the sea. “Davy Jones’ Locker” was the ocean floor. To be “sent to Davy’s Locker” was to die at sea. To “send someone to Davy Jones” was to kill them. To “awaken Davy Jones” was to cause a storm. In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Davy Jones is an actual character (played by Bill Nighy).

Getting Caught

“Virtually all pirates that were caught were hung,” Twist explains. British maritime law ranked piracy, along with desertion and mutiny, as the most serious crime a sailor could commit. A condemned pirate was to be hanged within ten days of being found guilty, the only hope of a reprieve being snitching on one’s former crew members, convincing a judge you had been forced into piracy against your will, or, as in Captain Jack’s case, making a daring escape.

Avoiding a Fight

“I think the single biggest inaccuracy in Hollywood pirate movies,” says Twist, “is that pirates were always spoiling for a fight. Pirates were essentially just after the money, so the last thing they wanted to do was actually fight with another ship and risk damage to their own ship or being injured or killed.” Typically a pirate ship would come alongside its intended prey and fire a warning shot in the hope that the other ship would surrender without a firing a shot. “And that’s what usually happened,” Twist says. “People knew that if they resisted they’d be killed. The Pirates of the Caribbean films and Captain Jack are much more realistic in that respect. Like most real-life pirates, Captain Jack enjoys his rum and has an eye on the main chance, but he’s not going to fight unless he really has to.”

Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Geoffrey Rush reunite in Walt Disney Pictures’ / Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” an all new epic tale in the blockbuster series chronicling the fantastical adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. This time around, the quartet is joined by international superstar Chow Yun-Fat as Captain Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Gore Verbinski, Captain Jack and the others set sail on the spectacular new adventure, once again laced with lashing of rollicking and irreverent humor, which takes them into new realms of adventure and fantasy. Their two previous “Pirates” adventures smashed records around the world, with “The Curse of the Black Pearl” garnering more than $650 million worldwide, a figure nearly doubled by “Dead Man’s Chest,” which became the third highest-grossing movie in international box office history with more than $1-billion, and a gigantic domestic take of $423,315,812, the sixth highest position in history.

The writers of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” are Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, co-writers of the first film and its follow up “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” also have such hits on their resume as “Aladdin” and “Shrek.” The film is based on characters created by Elliott & Rossio and Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert, and based on Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. The film’s executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Bruce Hendricks and Eric McLeod.

Johnny Depp has become one of the world’s most popular and acclaimed actors, with a hugely versatile range of performances marking his outstanding career. He was nominated for Best Actor Academy Awards for both “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Finding Neverland.” Depp’s extensive motion picture credits since the late 1980s have included “Cry-Baby,” “Platoon,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” “Ed Wood,” “Benny & Joon,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Don Juan DeMarco,” “Donnie Brasco,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “Chocolat,” “Blow,” “Once Upon A Time in Mexico,” “Secret Window,” “The Libertine,” “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride” and Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

Orlando Bloom became a major international star with his portrayal of Legolas in Peter Jackson’s award-winning “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy after co-starring in Jerry Bruckheimer’s production of “Black Hawk Down,” directed by Ridley Scott. Since then, the increasingly popular actor has starred in Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy,” Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven” and Cameron Crowe’s “Elizabethtown.”

Keira Knightley was first brought to the attention of international audiences in the sleeper hit “Bend It Like Beckham.” In addition to “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” she was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress for “Pride & Prejudice,” and also starred in “Love, Actually,” Jerry Bruckheimer’s production of “King Arthur,” and the upcoming “Atonement,” “Silk” and “The Best Time of Our Lives.”

Geoffrey Rush won an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for his captivating performance in HBO Films’ “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,” in which he portrayed the title character. He first became internationally known for his starring role in Scott Hicks’ feature film “Shine,” which garnered him an Academy Award for Best Actor as piano prodigy David Helfgott. He also won a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Film Critics’ Circle of Australia, Broadcast Film Critics, AFI and New York and Los Angeles Film Critics’ Awards for the film. Rush also received an Academy Award nomination for his performances in Philip Kaufman’s “Quills,” and both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for “Shakespeare in Love.”

Chow Yun-Fat exploded into international stardom after more than a decade as Hong Kong’s most popular leading man in a memorable series of portrayals that included director John Woo’s now classic films “A Better Tomorrow,” “The Killer,” “Once A Thief” and “Hard-Boiled.” Chow has also starred in Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Anna and the King” and most recently, Zhang Yimou’s “Curse of the Golden Flower.”

With only seven features to his credit thus far, Gore Verbinski’s highly acclaimed films have totaled more than $2-billion worldwide. His films have included the immensely successful “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” the chilling horror film “The Ring” and the acclaimed drama “The Weather Man,” starring Nicolas Cage.

Jerry Bruckheimer holds an undisputed position as one of the most successful producers in both motion pictures and television. First in partnership with Don Simpson, and then as the chief of Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Television, he has produced an unprecedented string of worldwide smashes, hugely impacting not only the industry, but mass culture as well. Bruckheimer’s films have included “American Gigolo,” “Flashdance,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Top Gun,” “Beverly Hills Cop II,” “Days of Thunder,” “Bad Boys,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Crimson Tide,” “The Rock,” “Con Air,” “Armageddon,” “Enemy of the State,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Coyote Ugly,” “Remember the Titans,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Bad Boys II,” “Veronica Guerin,” “King Arthur,” “National Treasure,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” and the upcoming “National Treasure: Book of Secrets.”

On television, Jerry Bruckheimer had an unprecedented 10 television series airing simultaneously in the Fall season 2005, a record in the medium for an individual producer. JBTV’s series have included “C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation” and its spinoffs “C.S.I.: Miami,” “C.S.I.: NY,” “Without a Trace,” “Cold Case,” and “The Amazing Race.”

Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Television have been honored with 39 Academy Award nominations, six Oscars, eight Grammy Award nominations, five Grammys, 23 Golden Globe nominations, four Golden Globes, 53 Emmy nominations, 14 Emmys, 16 People’s Choice nominations, 11 People’s Choice Awards, numerous MTV Awards, including one for Best Picture of the Decade for “Beverly Hills Cop” and 14 Teen Choice Awards.

Along with Depp, Rush, Bloom and Knightley, cast members returning to “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” include Stellan Skarsgard as Bootstrap Bill Turner, Bill Nighy as Davy Jones, Jack Davenport as Admiral James Norrington, Jonathan Pryce as Elizabeth’s father, Governor Weatherby Swann, Naomie Harris as Tia Dalma, Tom Hollander as Lord Cutler Beckett, Kevin R. McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook as Pintel and Ragetti, David Bailie as Cotton, Martin Klebba as Marty and, from the first film, Giles New and Angus Barnett as thick-skulled British soldiers Murtogg and Mullroy. Vanessa Branch and Lauren Maher return for a third time as Jack Sparrow’s favorite Tortuga wenches, Giselle and Scarlett. New cast additions include Reggie Lee (“The Fast and the Furious”) as Tai Huang, Captain Sao Feng’s lieutenant, and a diverse group of international actors portraying the Pirate Lords, including the legendary Keith Richards as Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code.

A large contingent of the award-winning “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” creative team reunites for “At World’s End,” including director of photography Darius Wolski, production designer Rick Heinrichs (Oscar nominated for “Dead Man’s Chest’), costume designer Penny Rose, supervising art director John Dexter, set decorator Cheryl Carasik (who shared the nomination with Heinrichs for “Dead Man’s Chest”), film editors Craig Wood and Stephen Rivkin, visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Charles Gibson (both of whom won Academy Awards for their work, along with ILM’s Hal Hickel, on “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”); special effects coordinator Allen Hall (who shared the “Dead Man’s Chest” Oscar with Knoll, Gibson and Hickel); stunt coordinator / second unit director George Marshall Ruge; three time Academy Award-winning key makeup artist Ve Neill and key hair stylist Martin Samuel, both of whom shared an Oscar nomination for “The Curse of the Black Pearl”; and composer Hans Zimmer. Joining this world-class team on the new film is Academy Award-winning special effects coordinator John Frazier (“Spider-Man 2”)

Next Page: Short Synopsis

Pirates Of The Caribbean – At World’s End
39 in. x 27 in.

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It is a dark time as the Age of Piracy nears to a close. Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Company has gained control of the terrifying ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman, and its malevolent, vengeful Captain, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy). The Dutchman now roams the seven seas, unstoppable, destroying pirate ships without mercy, under the command of Admiral Norrington (Jack Davenport).

Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) embark on a desperate quest to gather the Nine Lords of the Brethren Court, their only hope to defeat Beckett, the Flying Dutchman, and his Armada.

But one of the Lords is missing–Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), either the best or worst pirate ever, and now trapped in Davy Jones Locker, thanks to his encounter with the monstrous Kraken.

In an increasingly shaky alliance, our heroes, including Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (MacKenzie Crook) must first travel to dangerous, exotic Singapore and confront Chinese pirate Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) to gain charts, and a ship, that will take them off to world’s end, to rescue Jack.

But even if Captain Jack is successfully rescued, the gathering of the legendary Brethren Court may not be enough to hold back the fearsome tide of Beckett, Davy Jones and their powerful Armada… unless the capricious sea goddess Calypso, imprisoned in human form, can be freed and convinced to come to their aid.

As betrayal piles upon betrayal, it becomes clear that Jack, Will, Elizabeth, Sao Feng, and Barbossa each have their own agenda, and no one can be trusted. Yet each must choose a side, and make their final alliances for one last battle, in a titanic showdown that could eliminate the freedom-loving pirates from the seven seas — forever.

Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Stellan Skarsgård, Bill Nighy, Chow Yun-Fat, Jack Davenport, Naomie Harris, Kevin R. McNally, Jonathan Pryce
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Screenplay by: Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott
Produced by: Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Eric McLeod
Running Time: 145 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action / adventure violence and some frightening images.
Release Date: May 25, 2007
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures

Next Page: Chapter 1 – Success Can Be A Tough Taskmaster

Success can be a tough taskmaster… and coming off of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” which garnered more than $1 billion internationally and took third position for the top grossing films of all time, Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski were absolutely determined to once again rise to, and then go beyond, audience expectations.

“It’s scary when you make a picture that’s such a huge success,” confesses Bruckheimer. “You never quite know. It was against conventional wisdom that a pirate movie based on a theme park ride could be such a hit. Then we came back with the second film, and it’s common knowledge in our business that a sequel will make 20 to 30 percent less than the first one. And yet, `Dead Man’s Chest’ made almost double of what `The Curse of the Black Pearl’ took in.”

Bruckheimer attributes the massive success of the first two “Pirates of the Caribbean” films to the enormous amount of hard work put in by the filmmakers and talent on both sides of the camera. “You start with the writing, and Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio did a brilliant job creating great new characters and exciting arenas for them to work in. Then you add a director who’s as talented as Gore Verbinski, who gave audiences such a thrill ride in the first film, and took them even further in the second. And what really makes it all come together is when you see actors like Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush going through the paces of what Gore, Ted and Terry worked so hard to create with characters who are engaging, funny, romantic and witty. It took a lot of energy, brain power and time on the part of Gore, Ted and Terry to work out all of those amazing characters, situations and set pieces.

“Then you go behind-the-scenes,” continues Bruckheimer, “with Rick Heinrichs’ production design, Darek Wolski’s cinematography, Hans Zimmer’s music, and the rest of the people who worked so hard on these pictures and helped make them the huge success they became.”

For the third film, the producer and director encouraged screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio to push that envelope even further…quite literally, to the ends of the earth. “What we set for ourselves with Jerry, Gore, Johnny and everyone else,” says Elliott, “was to figure out a way to do two more movies that were of a piece with the first one, and yet still be unique in their own right. What we had to do with each one was, as quickly as we could in the story, satisfy expectations. And then set ourselves the challenge to go past that, and create events that people could never anticipate. Which isn’t easy.”

“The overall theme that we’re dealing with in `At World’s End,’” adds Terry Rossio, “is the nature of what it takes to be a good person, and each person faces that struggle. We embrace the idea that all pirate movies are about moral ambiguity, and good people can be forced into circumstances wherein they do something bad. So from the point of view of every character, they all have to go through that challenge, that transformation, facing their own ability to do something they’re not comfortable with, and making really tough choices. In that sense, every character in the story has a villainous moment at some point.”

“There’s never a trust between any of our characters in the movie,” adds Jerry Bruckheimer. “There’s always a devious plan to benefit their own ends. `At World’s End’ is a movie about who’s going to end up where, when and how, with constant one-upmanship.”

Once again, as with the first two films, Elliott and Rossio were constant presences on the set, from the Caribbean to Hollywood and beyond. “Their contribution was enormous,” says Bruckheimer, “because they would work with Gore and the actors right on set to make sure everything was right for the movie and their characters.

“Screenwriting is a real craft,” Bruckheimer explains. “Back in the 1930s and `40s, Hollywood decided to bring out journalists, novelists, anyone who could write, and many of them failed at screenwriting, which is a very different art form. Ted and Terry are masters of this craft. They love movies, old and new. They’re on top of everything happening in film. They know what it takes to write a great character, because they’ve studied and worked at it for years. And they’re fresh…Ted and Terry take pirate movie conventions that might seem mundane and clichéd, and flip them in a way to make them interesting and new. Along with Gore, they’ve completely re-invented the entire pirate movie genre.”

The geographic range of the story expands all the way to old Singapore and mythical realms beyond, such new characters as Chinese pirate Captain Sao Feng are introduced, and one crucial character is re-introduced: Captain Barbossa, freshly returned from the other side of the pale, this time in an uneasy alliance with his old nemesis Jack Sparrow against the forces of the East India Trading Company. We also get to meet the entire international Pirate Brethren in their hideaway of Shipwreck City, a rogue’s gallery of cutthroats from all the seven seas, including the Keeper of the Code, Teague, played by none other than immortal Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. Also returning from the first film are Murtogg and Mullroy, the two thickest skulls in 18th century British uniforms.

Next Page – Chapter 2: Pirates Saga by Numbers and Awards

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Using the famed Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disney Theme Parks (the last one in which Walt Disney himself had a personal hand in creating) as a springboard, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” defying some less than enthusiastic anticipation for a “movie based on a ride,” was a smash hit everywhere it played upon opening on July 9th, 2003, amassing a domestic U.S. gross of $305,413,918 million and, including its record-breaking overseas engagements, a worldwide total of $653,913,918.

The film also received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor for Johnny Depp. So successful was the first “Pirates” opus, that the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction was modified by Walt Disney Imagineering at both Disneyland in Anaheim and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida in time for the opening of “Dead Man’s Chest,” so that characters from the films, including Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Barbossa and Davy Jones, were seamlessly inserted in a way that retained what made the original ride such a perennial favorite among Disney theme park visitors… with hopes, of course, that the second film would at least equal the first in popularity.

But not even Bruckheimer, Verbinski, nor The Walt Disney Studios, could have predicted what would happen when the second film in the trilogy, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” opened on July 7th, 2006. The zeitgeist is a mysterious entity, and “Pirates” had obviously plugged directly into its circuit board, as “Dead Man’s Chest” became an instant cultural phenomenon. Upon its opening three-day weekend, the film blew every preceding U.S. box office record apart, amassing an astonishing $135,745,219, surpassing the previous champ, 2002′s “Spider-Man,” by more than $20 million.

“Big Booty for Bruckaneers,” screamed a headline of the Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety in its unique parlance, pointing out that the three-day numbers even beat the standing four-day weekend record…that the Friday totals of $55.5 million set a new mark for the biggest one-day numbers ever… that by Saturday, its $100.2 million take was the biggest ever two-day gross, which meant that “Dead Man’s Chest” was the first movie in history to break the sacred $100 million mark in 48 hours. By this point, the film had taken on major event status, as evidenced by the legion of “Pirates” fans, sweeping across the demographic board, who lined up for hours, many sporting an array of buccaneer gear, some so comprehensively attired from head to toe that it looked as if they stepped right off the set.

By the end of its second weekend, “Dead Man’s Chest” had passed $200 million on its eighth day of release-another record sent crashing to the ground-and amassed $258.2 million in only 10 days, with an additional $125 million in 24 countries outside of the U.S. and Canada. Any lingering doubts about the Pirates’ sea “legs” were laid to rest after the third weekend of “Dead Man’s Chest,” in which the film soared past four major new releases and became the fastest film in history to pass the $300 million mark in the U.S. and Canada (and broke “The Curse of the Black Pearl”’s $305 million milepost).

And overseas, opening in 11 new markets, it was the same story over and over again. Number one everywhere. Long queues from Tokyo to Mumbai to Warsaw, and back again. By September 2006, “Dead Man’s Chest” became only the third member of the billion dollar club and became the third highest grossing film, internationally, in motion picture history. The public had spoken, and very loudly too, across the entire world. The film was also honored with four Academy Award nominations, winning the Best Visual Effects prize for John Knoll, Charles Gibson, Hal Hickel and Allen Hall.

The filmmakers all knew that audiences, although having been thrilled by the first two films, would obviously be seeking the “Astonish me” factor in the third. And they were fully prepared to reward their expectations. “We wanted to tell a story which would be an epic struggle between freedom and conformity,” says executive producer Mike Stenson. “A fundamental question of the movie is, why are we supposed to like pirates? It really does come back to the sense that when you’re growing up, you want to be a pirate… you want to do something that’s about freedom, no rules, not dealing with authority. As we go through our lives, we have to deal with more and more issues of dealing with authority and conformity… but that doesn’t mean that on a Friday night you don’t want to leave the suit and tie behind and spend a couple of hours of experiencing that darker, more swashbuckling and independent version of yourself. Which is what I think elicits people’s passions for these movies.”

“The first movie wasn’t even on the top ten preview list for the summer,” adds executive producer Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films. “Then `Dead Man’s Chest’ did double what we hoped, which was pretty amazing. The problem is that after the celebrations came, the realization that we had to really deliver the goods for `At World’s End.’”

“In a way, the most satisfying aspect of `Pirates’ is that it has become this kind of cultural phenomenon that audiences have embraced so passionately,” says executive producer Bruce Hendricks. “You’ve got to give Jerry, Gore, Ted and Terry, and Johnny and the cast credit for that. This has forever changed the approach to the pirate genre, which was basically dead. It’s now been re-invented, whether or not we make more pirate movies, or someone else does, there’s a different way of looking at pirates now.”

Next Page – Chapter 3: Revealing the True Nature of all the Characters

In the aftermath of the “Dead Man’s Chest” sweep of worldwide box offices, the stars of the film were still processing its impact. “It’s shocking you know,” admits Johnny Depp. “I’m still sort of amazed that so many people in so many corners of the globe embraced the films and Captain Jack, and in a lot of ways just sort of claimed ownership of the character. Nothing like this has ever happened to me, but what’s happened with `Pirates’ hasn’t happened to many people. It’s very, very moving and emotional, the idea that people feel this very strong connection with Captain Jack. You know, seeing little kids dressed up as the character, talking like him. It’s just amazing.”

Depp was enthusiastic to pursue the development of Captain Jack’s journey in “At World’s End.” “When we last saw Jack in `Dead Man’s Chest,’” Depp explains, “he was swatting his way into the mouth of Kraken, and when we pick him up again in `At World’s End’ he’s in Davy Jones’ Locker, which is kind of beyond the idea of purgatory, a kind of hell in which he’s surrounded by himself. I thought it was a brilliant idea of taking this guy and not have him face his demons, but rather the various sides of his personality.”

“It’s an interesting idea that Jack Sparrow has an honest streak that will likely be his undoing,” adds screenwriter Ted Elliott. “He says it in the first movie, it actually does happen in the second one, and in this third film Jack has said, in effect, look, I’ve given up on the whole honest streak thing because we all saw where that one led to. That becomes Jack’s struggle throughout… what are you willing to do to get what you want?”

“Johnny Depp is a very surprising, unusual and unique actor,” adds Jerry Bruckheimer, “who creates memorable, original characters that audiences just fall in love with. Captain Jack was unlike anything that audiences had seen on screen before, a drunken, swashbuckling character who can barely stand up sometimes, yet is so clever and smart that he outwits everybody around him. And Johnny does this on every movie. Whether it’s Willy Wonka in `Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,’ J.M. Barrie in `Finding Neverland’ or `Donnie Brasco,’ he creates something so indelible that you can’t quite put your finger on how he invents that magic.”

Geoffrey Rush, an unabashed enthusiast for the three films, was thoroughly delighted to once again transform himself into Captain Barbossa. “I’ve always thought that `Dead Man’s Chest’ and `At World’s End’ are really one big film, with a cliffhanger interval,” he notes. “I say that quite selfishly, because I don’t do anything in the second film. I’m dead. But I have a fabulous sort of curtain line at the end of the movie. But `At World’s End’ galvanizes 15 major plot lines that have all been simmering through the first and second movies, and kind of brings them home.

“There’s a shift in Barbossa’s character in the third film,” Rush continues. “I think that in `Dead Man’s Chest,’ Davy Jones becomes the villain or dark force at the center of the film. And with Barbossa being absent, when he re-emerges, he actually comes back as a kind of politician, which is great for me because it meant I didn’t have to play the same flavors, or work off the same dramatic palette as in the first film, which was pure rivalry with Jack. I mean, that’s certainly still there, but my job in `At World’s End’ is to make sure that the romantic true heritage of the pirates being the vagabond brotherhood at sea maintains its identity against this rather ruthless corporate world of the East India Trading Company that wants to stamp it out. So I become an arch manipulator, and I think Barbossa’s familiar qualities of betraying people and forcing them to do things they don’t particularly want to do, is how he works.”

“We’re all still in character,” adds Orlando Bloom, “but thankfully, the character development is really great in the third film. Will Turner definitely has a few more edges. In the second movie, the major conflict for Will is whether to choose between his father or his love for Elizabeth. He wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to rescue his father, Bootstrap Bill, and he also wants to be with the girl he loves, but the two are opposite magnets that push away from each other.

“By the time `At World’s End’ begins,” Bloom continues, “Will has embraced the pirate code that he so hated at the start of `The Curse of the Black Pearl,’ to pursue his own purposes. A promise has been made that he will save his father’s life, and Will will try and do everything he can to honor that vow…not forgetting that he still loves Elizabeth, and wants to get her back into his life. The third movie reveals the true nature of all the characters, and it’s great to go on a journey with Will where you’re not quite certain which direction he will turn to.”

“There’s a certain amount of guilt that Elizabeth feels about having delivered Jack to the Kraken at the end of `Dead Man’s Chest,’” says Keira Knightley of her increasingly strong minded and determined character, “but I think that was something that had to be done at the time. But then she finds out that actually, what they really need to do is save him. Elizabeth is certainly more than the girl who stands in the corner by this point in the story. It’s been great to play a girl who’s strong and interesting, and isn’t afraid of a fight.”

“Keira became a woman through the course of making these three films,” notes Jerry Bruckheimer, “and Elizabeth is a character who has an enormous arc. She starts out as a kind of spoiled rich governor’s daughter, and through the course of the story becomes a woman who bucks convention and becomes as fierce and competitive a fighter as Will and Captain Jack.”

Bill Nighy was also delighted to take Davy Jones more than a few steps further in the third film, and again infusing the devilish character with a large dollop of recognizable humanity. “Davy is now in service to the East India Trading Company and Lord Cutler Beckett, certainly the first time he’s been in service to anybody. He’s no longer the free lord of the seas. In `At World’s End,’ you see how love and betrayal wrecked Davy’s life and ruined his existence. He just wants Calypso, and peace from this terrible love pain. He suffers in a major way. Davy is a lover, and he’s been deeply, deeply hurt, devastated by the loss of this woman. People like Davy who never connected with anyone, ever, and then do and lose it, cleave for all time. And these are dangerous men, you know, they’re almost certainly emotionally damaged. It’s a central fact of Davy Jones’ life that he’s never getting over it.”

“I have had a long life with Gore already, and it’s a very pleasant life,” smiles Stellan Skarsgård, who returns as Will Turner’s cursed father, Bootstrap Bill. “And it’s surprising because when you work on a production this big, you would think that working in front of the camera would be very different from the kind of independent films I’ve done before. But it isn’t, because it’s very intimate around the camera. You work basically in the same way, or you’re free to try things. Gore is not only a technical director, but he’s very interested in actors and to see what actors can produce. It’s one of the reasons I wanted this job…because when I saw `The Curse of the Black Pearl,’ I saw a bunch of actors who enjoyed themselves and obviously had a lot of fun.”

Bootstrap Bill also continues on a progressive arc throughout the third film. “It’s pretty sad, because his deterioration has gone quite far. He’s already falling apart, and only has glimpses of remembering and vague ideas about his relationships to people. As with other crewmen of the Flying Dutchman, Bill is becoming more and more a part of the ship, losing his humanity.”

Explains the compulsively witty Jack Davenport of his character, James Norrington, “Where you left me off at the end of the second film, I was still modeling homeless person chic…but with Davy Jones’ heart in hand. I well know that I managed to give the heart to probably the last person on earth or indeed the high seas that I should have given it to, it’s now allowed me in the third film to once again dress like a Mardi Gras float. I’m much more comfortable in blues and yellows, and I once again sport the deeply flattering white wig. So joy is unconfined all around.”

On a somewhat more serious note, Davenport says, “In `At World’s End,’ Norrington comes to realize that he’s made a terrible mistake, and he has to live with that. In terms of his feelings for Elizabeth, he’s not the same swooning chap that he was in the first film, which I think is a good thing in terms of deepening the character. She broke Norrington’s heart, very embarrassingly and very publicly. Subsequently, I don’t think he harbors any great illusions about them sailing off into the sunset together. In the third film, he looks on rather helplessly at the gigantic mess he’s created, and he has some opportunity for redemption.”

Tom Hollander, the charming Englishman who plays the distinctively uncharming Lord Cutler Beckett, was also dazzled by the success of “Dead Man’s Chest.” “Being in the third biggest grossing film of all time, I felt like it was as if I’d been standing next to the man who discovered penicillin,” jokes the actor. “It was thrilling, a fantastic feeling. Being a part of something which people absolutely love is just wonderful. It’s been quite a tough job, but amazing as well.”

In the third film, Beckett’s cold-bloodedness ascends to even more dastardly levels. “Davy Jones can be seen as the main villain of `Dead Man’s Chest,’ but Beckett becomes his boss in `At World’s End,’ so technically speaking, I’m on the top of the heap of villainy,” adds Hollander. “Davy Jones’ heart is my secret weapon, what’s known in show business as `leverage.’ Because he who has the heart of Davy Jones controls the seas. So even though Beckett is physically unintimidating to Davy Jones, he has his heart, which although a gloopy, nasty, smelly thing, gives him all the power.

Next Page – Chapter 4: Some New Faces Aboard

In addition to the stars already established in the two previous films, Bruckheimer and Verbinski brought some special new faces aboard for “At World’s End,” most notably international superstar Chow Yun-Fat, cast as the smart if duplicitous Singaporean pirate, Captain Sao Feng. “You want to hire enormously talented actors who are at the top of their game,” says Bruckheimer, “and that’s the definition of Chow Yun-Fat. He’s a masterful actor, an international star, and a perfect addition to the trilogy.”

“They were all pirates in reality, and betrayal was normal,” notes Chow of his character. “Therefore, Sao Feng treats it as a business transaction. There is no good or evil in the pirate world, and Sao Feng is neither a good person nor a villain. They are all pirates, and that’s how pirates are.” In terms of the films’ international appeal, Chow explains, “I think everyone has a fantasy to do things that cannot be controlled by parents or the authorities. Pirates are rebels, so especially in the minds of young people, the movie has global appeal.”

For such grizzled “Pirates” veterans as Lee Arenberg and Mackenzie Crook, who play the tag-team duo of Pintel and Ragetti, “At World’s End” presented another opportunity to expand their characters. “In the first film we were pretty vicious,” says Crook. “We shot the servant in the governor’s house straight away, really nasty, cutthroat villains. In the second film, we lightened up a bit and became a real double-act. But I think that Gore, Ted and Terry were keen to keep a vicious streak in us, because we’re pirates when you come down to it, so we can’t always just be goofing around. So I have a good kill count in `At World’s End.’ I think I dispatch three or four souls.”

“We were funny bad guys in the first movie and funny good guys in the second one,” adds Arenberg. “And from here on out we’re funny good guys no matter which team we’re on. We certainly don’t gain any intelligence. I always say that Pintel and Ragetti still share half a brain.”

Next Page – Chapter 5: Every Saga Must Make a Start

…And for “At World’s End,” that beginning was as early as April 6, 2005, when the first scenes for the film were shot in production designer Rick Heinrichs’s Tortuga set constructed in Wallilabou Bay on the beautiful and atmospheric island of St. Vincent in the West Indies, giving that tiny country a three for three batting average, having hosted all of the “Pirates” films.

And ironically, the sequence was one of the final moments in the film. Of course, shooting this scene was in concert with the simultaneous filming of “Dead Man’s Chest,” and it’s doubtful if the challenge of producing and directing not one, but two massively scaled epics could have been more daunting to Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, and their collective production teams and company of actors. But the point was, they were up for it, and then some. “Anytime you make a movie it’s a challenge,” says Bruckheimer. “But when you try to prepare two movies at the same time, that’s a serious challenge. You just don’t get the kind of preparation time that you need for the second movie, let alone the first movie.

“But from the producer’s point of view,” he continues, “it was the only way to make the second and third `Pirates’ films. You have Gore Verbinski, who is a directing star based on the first movie and his other work. You have Johnny Depp, who has been a star for years, but who broke out into a huge, mainstream audience on `The Curse of the Black Pearl.’ You have Orlando Bloom, who blossomed even before the first `Pirates,’ and became a superstar after it was released. And then you have Keira Knightley, who’s come into her own right as a phenomenal young actress. To get all of them together for two movies, if you did it separately there would be three or four years in between before you could figure out their schedules and make all of their deals to get slots. Blocking out their time based on two back-to-back movies, as well as Gore and the screenwriters, Ted and Terry-as well as keeping together the rest of the crew-meant that this was the only way to go.”

Although the majority of filming in both St. Vincent and the following West Indian location of Dominica were for “Dead Man’s Chest,” Verbinski also took full advantage of the exotic locales for required “At World’s End” sequences as well. A convoy of production vehicles bumped along half-constructed or barely constructed roads to access St. Vincent’s Black Point Beach, a spectacular stretch of sand and rugged surf. On Dominica, the very first scenes shot on the re-designed and re-built Black Pearl-which had sailed almost 2,000 nautical miles from the Steiner Shipyard in Bayou La Batre, Alabama-were filmed, re-uniting Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush as his old nemesis, Captain Barbossa. Here on Dominica, at Capucine Point, we see the Black Pearl and her passengers approaching Shipwreck Island, one of the most spectacular settings in “At World’s End.”

Despite the fact that less of St. Vincent and Dominica are seen on screen in “At World’s End” than in “Dead Man’s Chest,” executive producer Eric McLeod points out that “in the end, technically, this film was shot in more places than `Dead Man’s Chest.’ In addition to St. Vincent, Dominica, The Exumas and Grand Bahama Island, `At World’s End’ was also filmed in different locales in Southern and Central California as well as Hawaii and second unit filming in Greenland and Niagara Falls. Gore wants to take the audience on a journey to places they haven’t been to before.”

Next Page – Chapter 6: Singapore Sling

With the lion’s share of filming during this period going to “Dead Man’s Chest,” followed by a summer hiatus while the huge open studio tank was being constructed on Grand Bahama Island, the next scene to be filmed for the film wouldn’t be until August 31, 2005, with Chow Yun-Fat joining the cast as Captain Sao Feng for scenes shot on Disney’s Stage 2 in Rick Heinrichs’ lustrous sets representing the Singaporean pirate’s cabin on his ship, the Empress. Two days later saw the start of filming of the first major stage setpiece for “At World’s End,” and for many it represented the apotheosis of Rick Heinrichs’ artistry, and that of his entire department: a massive, fanciful interpretation of Singapore in the early 18th century.

Constructed on Stage 12 at Universal Studios, this amazing funhouse of a set, comprising some 40 individual structures, was built on top of an 80 by 130 foot tank, and was basically comprised of a harbor replete with Southeast Asian thatched huts and houses built on stilts (known as kampongs), and a swath of the fabled city itself, more formally Chinese in design, including a marketplace, adjacent street where all sorts of dubious business takes place, and a vast bathhouse frequented-way too often, from their looks-by local pirates. Heinrichs even designed and built the low-roofed area underneath the bathhouse in which workers keep the water heated with large furnaces.

This was the stage for an early and crucial sequence in At World’s End, in which Will, Elizabeth and Barbossa search for secret charts which could lead them to Davy Jones’ Locker-and therefore to Captain Jack Sparrow, who was sent there at the finale of “Dead Man’s Chest” by the Kraken-from Singapore pirate lord Captain Sao Feng. What ensues is a tremendous action sequence which spills from the town area onto the rickety boardwalks, strung with illuminated lanterns, that connect the kampong houses on stilts above the harbor, pitting the pirates against soldiers of the East India Trading Company.

“Singapore is a mélange of different influences and architectural styles that we researched when we were studying what Singapore might have looked like at that time,” says Heinrichs. “In those years, Singapore was not a particularly well documented place until the 19th century, so we looked at a number of other Chinese cities for reference. We took a deliberately fantastical approach, creating something like a Chinese/Malaysian expressionist style of what we think Singapore might have looked like at the time.

“The bathhouse is a nasty example of hygiene that pokes fun at the spa sensibility running rampant today,” continues Heinrichs. “We have a lot of mushrooms and other fungi growing out of the wooden tubs, and in fact, the pirates have spent so much time lazing around the tubs that they also have mushrooms growing out of them! They don’t seem to leave their filthy ways on the ships…they bring it with them into the bathhouse. The whole point of this is to give you a wonderful sense of nausea at what filthy beasts and brutes the pirates are. We’ve added lots of thickeners and color to the water so that it looks unwholesome. Captain Sao Feng has his own `hero niche’ in the bathhouse, with an imperial dragon on the wall behind it. One of the fun things that we did was to design the entire floor of the bathhouse to have a meandering, planked look that’s almost organic, so every one of them had to be hand cut.”

Heinrichs’ longtime collaborator as set decorator-someone who shared an Academy Award nomination with him for both “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “Dead Man’s Chest” in the Best Art Direction category-is Cheryl Carasik. “I’ve done four films pretty much back-to-back with Rick, and we just have a great relationship,” she says. “Rick starts cooking right away, so I have enough information from the very beginning of prep to focus and fine tune the big picture. Carasik’s set decoration for Singapore, half of which was actually imported from Asia, was an incredible grabbag of baskets, bushels, food products, flickering Chinese lanterns, baskets, crates, barrels, buckets, painted scrolls, hanging laundry, all made of rattan, bamboo (much of which Carasik brought back from the Dominican locations), wood and palm fronds, just as they would be in Southeast Asia. “It was one of the biggest sets I’ve ever done in my career, and probably the most challenging for the amount of time in which we had to do it,” Carasik recalls. “There were little nooks, apothecary and pottery shops, and interiors that all needed to be dressed, because you never know where Gore is going to want to shoot.”

Atmospherically, the Singapore set actually felt like Southeast Asia, with heavy, dripping humidity caused by the thousands of gallons of water in the tank utilized to create the harbor area, combined with the heat emanating from the powerful lighting equipment. There was even a visible fog which could always be seen just above the water level!

At World’s End presented new, and occasionally overwhelming, challenges to stunt coordinator George Marshall Ruge, assistant Dan Barringer and their fabulous team of stunt doubles and players, which this time included a large Asian contingent featuring martial arts experts of all caliber. The Singapore sequence, involving Captain Barbossa, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Gibbs, Tia Dalma, Pintel and Ragetti, Cotton and his parrot, Marty, Captain Sao Feng, Jack the Monkey and approximately 200 assorted Chinese pirates, East India Trading Company militia and various Singaporean citizenry, spills out from a grotty bathhouse, onto the streets and alleys of the city, and then onto wooden boardwalks and walkways connecting thatched stilt houses over the harbor. “The Singapore sequence began as an unknown entity and one line description in a treatment,” notes Ruge. “Without a lot of warning it took on massive proportions, with a rapid evolution into a complex sequence on a very difficult set. We had limited time to prepare, design the action, choreograph and rehearse. Because the sets were still being built and the paint was still drying, I ended up calling rehearsals at very odd hours that often extended into the night.

“The bathhouse portion of the sequence presented a lot of problems,” Ruge continues. “Complex fight choreography was required in a very confined space with lots of people and lots of obstacles in terms of the baths themselves. The set was raked and incredibly slippery, with the steam rising from all crevices. The action was designed to be absolutely character driven, fresh, intricate and crisp. There was literally no room for error with gunfire and swords flying everywhere. Once the action leaves the bathhouse and escalates out onto the streets of Singapore, another set of problems emerged. The action had to be designed utilizing the very narrow wood planked walkways that were elevated above the water by bamboo scaffolding. This required performers taking eight to 14 foot falls into the water, which was only three and one half feet deep with a concrete bottom.”

Ruge’s solution was to sink large sections of black foam rubber and anchor them to the soundstage floor. The problem is that foam rubber’s natural inclination is to float, so holes needed to be cut throughout the foam to allow the water to pool above the submerged pad and hold it down.

Chow Yun-Fat, who had already performed several scenes on Grand Bahama Island, was a major attraction on the Singapore set, especially to those members of the company who had followed him for years as he ascended the ranks of superstardom in Asian and U.S. cinema. “He always said that he was honored to be there,” recalls Reggie Lee, who portrays Tai Huang, Captain Sao Feng’s aide-de-camp. “Here’s a megastar who we all idolize, who in fact is so humble and friendly to everyone. Yun-Fat’s work is spectacular, he has a great work ethic, and having a chance to act with him was just spectacular.”

Also participating in the Singapore battle were some of the now famous non-human performers of the “Pirates” series from animal coordinator Boone Narr of Boone’s Animals for Hollywood and head trainer Mark Harden, especially Jack the Monkey, again portrayed by either Chiquita (female) or Pablo (male), depending upon the required abilities. “At World’s End,” even more than the previous film, really gave Pablo and Chiquita a chance to shine as simian thespians, such as being dressed in little Chinese costumes in the Singapore sequence, stealing a Roman Candle and firing it during the pitched battle with the East India Trading Company troops. “It was a literal blast,” recalls Harden. “Pablo and Chiquita had to handle a lit candle and touch the flame to the wick, and it took over 60 takes to take it right. It wasn’t just the monkeys, it was a harmonic convergence of all sorts of things going awry. But I was really happy. I mean, everybody teased me that it took 66 takes, but I was proud that the monkeys were willing to do it in 66 takes to get it right!”

Also appearing in the film, and whenever and wherever the silent Cotton (David Bailie) appears, are either Chip or Salsa, the macaws who play the pirate’s squawking pet bird. Has Bailie’s relationship with the animal grown over the last three films? “If I had anything to do with it, it would have done, but the bird seems remarkably indifferent to me. People only recognize me because of the wretched creature!”

Next Page – Chapter 7: Return to The Bahamas

Following three tough, sweaty weeks of shooting the Singapore sequence, the company flew back to Grand Bahama Island in late September 2005 for the continuation of “Dead Man’s Chest” water shooting in the massive tank and on the open seas, with marine coordinator Dan Malone and picture boat coordinator Will White, and their respective teams on dozens of support craft keeping everything afloat.

Following a Christmas / New Year break, the company returned to The Bahamas one last time in the second week of January 2006. First, back on the tiny sand spit of White Cay in The Exumas, Verbinski filmed the “Parlay” scene with the big guns of Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy and Tom Hollander (interspersed with final scenes of the “Dead Man’s Chest” three-way swordfight, which had not yet been filmed to conclusion).

“The Exumas, which we used in both movies, was very difficult but unbelievably organized,” says first assistant director Dave Venghaus. “It should have been a lot more miserable than it was. We went back three times to that location to accomplish the work, and it was an extraordinary crew that really pulled it together. The transportation and marine departments once again put two huge barges off of White Cay as a basecamp, and we took the cast and crew to the island on smaller craft. The crew accepted the challenge, and then rose to it really well.”

Then it was back to the tank on Grand Bahama, with shooting alternating between the final sequences necessary to complete “Dead Man’s Chest” once and for all-nearly one year after the cameras first rolled-and then the required, and very numerous, water sequences for “At World’s End.” The weather on Grand Bahama had now cooled considerably, enough so that parkas had to be donned for night shooting. The late winter weather also kicked up the seas considerably, as Verbinski and the company learned the hard way on the night of February 2nd, 2006, as they attempted to shoot an exciting “At World’s End” sequence in which Elizabeth Swann and a group of Chinese pirates escape imprisonment on the Flying Dutchman by climbing a rat line connecting that ship to the Empress-Captain Sao Feng’s flagship junk-which is being towed behind. A stiff wind whipped the waters into a whirlpool, with the Dutchman and the Empress tossed about like toys, and the smaller support craft even more so.

“That night was surreal,” recalls stunt coordinator George Marshall Ruge. “The stuntmen had to negotiate a 150 foot long rat line, hand-over-hand, while alternating their leg holds on the rope as they went. The physical demands were already extreme, but what we didn’t anticipate was bad weather and rough seas. We’re not talking just rolling waves…we’re walking about a churning cauldron of wickedly, unpredictable, rough water. The seas became too rough for the pick-up boats to navigate, the rat line itself was heaving up and down as much as 10 feet. Conditions couldn’t have been worse. We ended up using another vessel that had a roof to get the stuntmen off the rope. The roof had to be reinforced, as it wasn’t mean tot carry the weight of people on top. The stuntmen had to time their transfer from the heaving rope to spotters on the boat’s roof. The real stunts were performed behind-the-scenes that night!”

As the incredibly brave stunt players climbed the rope between ships, and the marine department crafts desperately tried to remain afloat without capsizing (although at least one did, with no one hurt), executive producer Eric McLeod noted, “Take a good look at this. You’ll never see moviemaking on this scale again. Soon it’ll all be done with blue screen. This is movie history being made.”

The supporting cast, depending upon when they were needed for filming, would come and go from The Bahamas with regularity. “That was a great luxury,” notes Jonathan Pryce, who plays Governor Weatherby Swann, “because since we started shooting I did both a West End play and Broadway musical in between my work for `Pirates.’ It’s always nice to come back, see some friends, visit for a few days or a couple of weeks, then go off and do something else.

“It means people are very pleased to see me when I arrive,” adds Pryce with a laugh. “I’m full of admiration for the crew, the majority of whom worked on all three films, and their energy never diminished, nor has Gore’s enthusiasm and inventiveness on set amongst this huge machine. Gore always finds time for the actors and the acting, because he knows that’s ultimately what the audience focuses on. In a film of this size and success, there’s no sense of complacency. It’s a bit like doing a musical where there is no place for cynicism. We laugh a lot on `Pirates,’ but when you’re doing it, you’re doing it for real.”

Strangely enough, the very last scene to be filmed for “Dead Man’s Chest,” on February 7, 2006, was Johnny Depp’s very first appearance in the film as Captain Jack Sparrow, popping out of a casket which has just been hurled into the Turkish sea. At last, Gore Verbinski could concentrate solely on “At World’s End,”

Much of “At World’s End” is set on the sea, and in addition to the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman, Rick Heinrichs had even more ships to design for the film. The Empress and the Hai Peng are both Chinese junks, but a real study in contrasts. The Empress is the elaborately decorated flagship of Singaporean pirate Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat), the Hai Peng a much more modest affair, a junk that really looks like junk, composed of rotting, decrepit wood and thatched roofing on its deck structure.

“For the Empress, we were taking off on the idea of Captain Sao Feng as something of a peacock,” explains Heinrichs, “so there are design elements which reflect that, such as the long arc of its shape which seems to almost swoop up into a tail on the rear of the ship. There are sail extensions on the sides of the ship which are almost like feathers that help to drive the ship forward.” Sao Feng’s elaborate cabin on the Empress was separately constructed on a Walt Disney Studios sound stage, layered with sensual fabrics, a multitude of burning candles which created atmospheric lighting, and a moon gate entrance.

“It really takes great craftsmanship to make a ship like the Empress,” says Chow Yun-Fat. “The only problem was that because I was born into a family of farmers, I never went on ships. So when I was on the Empress I got seasick after I went on board! So although the ship was beautiful, I didn’t have any feelings because I was too dizzy!”

Fully half of the Endeavour, Lord Cutler Beckett’s imposing East India Trading Company flagship, was constructed for filming in Grand Bahama Island, with the remainder to be added by CG imagery. Beckett’s cabin on the ship was built in the studio, its design reflecting his vaunted view of himself as someone making over the entire world. “There’s sort of a Chaplinesque Great Dictator aspect to Beckett,” says Heinrichs, “which we can see in the huge globe that’s in his cabin, kind of a counterpart to the big map of the world that’s in his Port Royal office. On Beckett’s desk in the cabin are toy ships and navigational devices which intentionally resemble instruments of torture. He not only has the world in a vise, but he’s going to flay it as well.”

Spending that much time at sea, particularly as fall turned it both cooler and choppier, tested the mettle of even the hardiest “Pirates.” “I mean, you’re on a boat 10, 12, 14 hours a day,” notes Martin Klebba. “There’s no way to walk away somewhere and collect your head. You’re on a boat with another hundred or so people all trying to make the movie the best they can. They kept us plied with lots of water and food, brought boxed lunches to the ships, but you have no control of the sea tossing you about, mentally you get drained, and finally you go back to the hotel, wake up eight hours later and do it all over again. And even in your bed at night, or sitting at a computer, everything is still rocking back and forth. It’s like being on a roller coaster.”

“The terrible thing about filming out at sea is that you are used to doing your work, sitting down, and maybe having a coffee and a read,” adds Kevin R. McNally, who plays sea salt Joshamee Gibbs. Every time you sit down somewhere in the Black Pearl, some guy says `Excuse me, I have to move that cannon’ or `Hold on, I just have to pour some blood over this guy.’ So you just basically spend 10 hours a day circling the boat like a cat trying to find somewhere to settle. It’s exhausting.”

Two days before the company wrapped on Grand Bahama, thus completing its Caribbean shoot, it all seemed to come full circle during the filming of a climactic sequence for “At World’s End” in which the pirates of the Black Pearl unfurl the Jolly Roger and raise it high over the masts. A speaker blared Hans Zimmer’s huge, stirring music written expressly for this scene, and goosebumps started to appear on the arms of virtually the entire company. This was what many civilians think moviemaking is really like: sort of like watching a film, only live.

An apt phrase, to be sure, especially when describing how the Black Pearl was shipped, lock, stock and barrels-literally-in a gigantic float-on/float-off yacht carrier called the Super Servant 3, from Southern Florida, through the Panama Canal, and to Ensenada, Mexico. The Pearl then sailed on her own steam to Los Angeles after shooting finally wrapped on Grand Bahama Island on March 1st, 2006, for more “At World’s End” filming back in the Los Angeles area when shooting resumed in August, following the tough post-production schedule on “Dead Man’s Chest,” the film’s massive Disneyland premiere, and its smashingly successful domestic and international openings.

The Flying Dutchman, having completed her duties on the second and third films, was sailed from Freeport to Disney’s very own Castaway Cay in The Bahamas, where it now provides amazing encounters for Disney Cruise Line passengers. By the time the company went on hiatus, approximately 35 percent of “At World’s End” had been completed, difficult and challenging, but by no means was the company over the hump in terms of what was still required.

Next Page – Chapter 8: Truly Salty Sailors in Utah, and Back to California

And the travel wasn’t entirely over for the company, either. The resumption of “At World’s End” shooting on August 3rd, 2006, would see the company jetting to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah for a couple of ruthlessly hot days, with temperatures in the dry heat hovering at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Keeping to the code-Gore Verbinski’s, that is-the tough location was nonetheless perfect for scenes in which Captain Jack Sparrow is slowly losing his mind in Davy Jones’ Locker.

Of course, `Pirates’ being `Pirates,’ the bad weather curse followed the company even up to Utah. “Two days before we started shooting we discovered that it was raining in the flats,” recalls first assistant director Dave Venghaus. “And when it rains, it doesn’t get deep, but becomes a gigantic reflecting pool of water. We panicked, because we wanted the dry element of the desert and not the wet salt look. When we got there, we drove through a couple of inches of water on top of the salt on the way out to our location some 10 miles into the flats, but thank goodness the water dried out pretty quickly and we were able to get the work done. It didn’t surprise me, because no matter where we went, somehow or another, water would affect us.”

Confirms executive producer Eric McLeod, “We shot in August, pretty much the warmest month of the year in that part of Utah, and we got an inch of water two days before we arrived, which luckily mostly evaporated. But if you want a weather pattern change, have the `Pirates’ movie show up and you’re going to get one!”

The troupe traded the tropical heat and humidity of the Caribbean for the desert conditions of the otherworldly, barren expanses of the Salt Flats, which stretches over 30,000 acres and is famed as the site of rocket-powered land vehicles setting all kinds of speed records. Except for a brief sojourn to the beaches of Santa Maria, on the central California coast, the company blessedly stayed closer to home for the duration of the “At World’s End” shoot, filming more sequences on Rick Heinrichs’ gloriously gloomy Flying Dutchman and lavish Endeavour captain’s cabins on Walt Disney Studios soundstages, and aboard the Black Pearl in the waters off of San Pedro and Redondo Beach.

This presented its own headaches in more ways than one, as the load-in at the Redondo Beach Pier is a public facility and obviously the production drew an enormous amount of attention from the public and media alike. Hundreds of fans descended upon the base camp day after day in a way that the production had never before seen, accustomed as they were to the more remote locations in St. Vincent, Dominica and The Bahamas, where frankly, the local populace had more urgent matters to attend to than getting movie stars’ autographs. “I only realized how huge `Pirates’ had become when I went to the premiere of `Dead Man’s Chest’ at Disneyland,” notes Kevin R. McNally. “It was like being a Beatle for a moment. Then, when we were shooting off of Redondo Beach, people were just going crazy. It was amazing. It’s a real honor to be in something that has such wide reach and that so many people love.”

Ironically, after shooting in the often rough open waters of the Caribbean and Atlantic, some of the most turbulent seas the production encountered were right off the coast of Rancho Palos Verdes, as high swells twisted the Pearl this way and that, and along with it, the stomachs of cast and crew. More than one stalwart actor or behind-the-scenes worker heaved over the rail on those days, and weren’t embarrassed either.

The ultimate crowd-pleaser and fan-appreciator, Johnny Depp-even after 12 to 14 hour days on the Pearl-still devoted up to an hour-and-a-half on most nights signing autographs and taking pictures in Redondo Beach with an ever-growing army of devotees, many of whom arrived before sunrise in the hopes of even catching a glimpse of their hero, let alone shaking his hand or getting a hug and kiss. “I think Johnny is the best thing since sliced bread,” says fellow pirate David Bailie, who has played the silent Cotton in all three films. “He’s a total gent. The way he treats everyone, and perhaps more importantly, his public, is a wonder to behold. I worked with Laurence Olivier in the 1960s when I was in the National Theatre. He was never offhand with his public. He was always thoroughly polite and he recognized that they were his bread and butter, and I’ve seen Johnny behave in exactly the same way.”

The company then got back into their cars, trucks, SUVs and semis, and headed north to the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes on California’s beautiful Central Coast for scenes on the beach involving all four leads: Depp, Rush, Bloom and Knightley. This area has quite a history of its own, having hosted several previous films, including Cecil B. DeMille’s 1923 version of “The Ten Commandments”… with some of the sets, having been buried nearly 80 years ago, now peeking out through the dunes in shards of wood and plaster, a mute testimony to Hollywood history. Unlike DeMille and his gang, however, Bruckheimer, Verbinski and company left no trash behind, instead leaving the pristine preserve just as they found it.

 Next Page – Chapter 9: The Brethren Court

The last of the fabulous sets built on Disney’s Stage 2 for the Pirates trilogy was Shipwreck Cove, where the raucous and divisive Brethren Court of pirate lords meets to make a last plan of action against the onslaughts of Beckett and the East India Trading Company armada. “Shipwreck Cove was conceived by Gore as kind of a retirement home for old pirates, comprised of the wrecked hulls of various ships hidden in a volcano,” notes Heinrichs.“The Brethren Court meet in one of those hulls, and outside of the structure we’ve extended the set with a 300-foot-long painted backing which has been beautifully designed and painted in the good, old-fashioned Hollywood tradition.”

The Brethren Court does have some foundation in history, note the screenwriters. “There was a loose confederation of pirates called the Brethren of the Coast,” says Ted Elliott. “And it’s just such a fun idea to have a whole bunch of pirates sitting around trying to come to decisions. Captain Sao Feng has a line of dialogue in which he says that pirates are either captain or crew, and nine captains charting a course is eight captains too many. We also wanted to get more international in flavor, so the pirate lords are from all over the world.”

In fact, although Elliott and Rossio cheerfully admit that they often play (“play” being the operative word) fast and loose with history, there are truths to be found amidst the fun. In fact, most of the Pirate Lords are based on historical buccaneers, and although they didn’t necessarily occupy the same chronological era depicted in “At World’s End,” Captain Chevalle, Ammand the Corsair, Gentleman Jocard, Mistress Ching, Captain Villanueva and Sri Subhajee all made their mark on the chronicles of high seas skullduggery.

On Heinrichs’ evocative set, rickety boardwalks connect one rotting old hull to another, with the Brethren Court meeting room gorgeously illuminated by some 3500 candles. Figureheads from plundered ships used as decoration are used for target practice by the rowdy pirate lords, pierced by an amusing array of swords, hatchets and daggers. The long wooden table at which the Pirate Lords meet was designed by Heinrichs and Cheryl Carasik, and constructed at a Walt Disney Studios workshop. “We also made a chandelier out of an anchor, which looks like iron but is actually fabricated from foam,” explains Carasik. “Then we took several cases of wax candles and dripped them over the top of the chandelier. We must have used thousands of candles to get this effect!”

The filming of the sequence, which took place over a momentous seven days in mid-September 2006, was pretty raucous itself. The set was crammed with the film’s stars and the wildly colorful array of pirate lords from the seven seas (portrayed by some very distinguished international actors, including Syria’s Ghassan Massoud, who coincidentally portrayed Saladin opposite Orlando Bloom in “Kingdom of Heaven”).

Then there was the matter of who would be chosen as Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code, the Pirata Codex, to which even the most dastardly scalawag must religiously adhere, at the peril of his own body and soul.

But the casting was pre-ordained. For nearly a year, rumors flew hither and yon that it would be none other than Keith Richards, legendary guitarist of the Rolling Stones, and a close mate of Johnny Depp…who very admittedly had modeled some of Captain Jack Sparrow’s style and characteristics on his great and good friend. And the rumors, for a refreshing change, were true.

“The sort of connection I made when first thinking about Captain Jack,” says Depp, “was the idea that pirates were the rock and roll stars of that era. Their myths or legends would arrive months before they would ever make port, much like rock stars.”

“It’s about freedom, baby,” adds Richards. “Open the cage, let the tigers out. Somebody’s gotta do the naughty work. It’s not so much about destroying the establishment. It’s to prevent them from destroying you.”

Richards was understandably somewhat wary at first of accepting the role of Captain Teague. “When I first heard about it, I was thinking, oh my God, this is an Elvis Presley thing. You pop in and sing. But when I saw how it fit into the whole scenario, then it felt quite natural to do it. And they’ve also made me a lovely guitar.”

Strumming that guitar-especially designed and built for him by the legendary instrument maker Danny Farrington at the request of propmaster Kris Peck-and wielding a mean flintlock pistol, Richards took the company, and the days on which he filmed, by hurricane force. “It was kind of a long shot to even think about getting Keith to do this,” says Depp. “The fact that he agreed was above and beyond a dream come true. Experiencing his arrival on set was unbelievable. Every single person on the crew, including people you hadn’t seen in months, suddenly showed up. It was a beautiful, perfect symmetry.”

As for the unique connection between Captains Jack and Teague, Depp notes, “You get the feeling that there was a real tough love relationship there. Teague is one of those pirates who would give you a hug one minute, and blow you away the next. Or maybe he’ll blow you away and then give you a hug. You don’t know what to expect from him.”

“It was really interesting to see the kind of mutual respect that Keith seemed to have for the actors and crew, and that they had for him, his artistry and his long, celebrated career,” notes Jerry Bruckheimer. “I think he had a lot of fun. In fact, he didn’t want to quite leave the set. Usually, when an actor is finished with a scene, they go to their trailer until the next set-up. But Keith was hanging around the set even in between his scenes. I think Keith took his personalized chair when he left as a remembrance of the experience, and I’m sure he took his costume. If he didn’t, I hope he did.”

“Keep to the Code” if an oft-heard slogan in the “Pirates” films, but it’s only in “At World’s End” that the audience actually gets a chance to see the Real Deal…the Pirata Codex, so-named in haughty Latin, a mighty volume of overwhelming size which, in reality, was nothing less than an objet d’art of surpassing craftsmanship.

“The Pirate Code book was something in the making for a very long time,” explains “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End” property master Kristopher E. Peck, “and we had many people working on it. It had never been done before, and had to be grand and spectacular. I also wanted to put a lot of detail in it, even if it never ended up on film. But I knew that Gore is very detail oriented, and I wanted to give him options to shoot.

“We had some trial and error with Gore, and I finally decided that he wouldn’t see it again for approval until we got it right. I got on the phone with two people from San Diego:Tom Mallory, who’s a writer for one of the city’s newspaper, and Mark Van Stone, who’s an expert in ancient calligraphy and manuscripts. I had both of them get in a car immediately and come up to L.A. and after our meeting we worked until two o’clock in the morning in the production office writing the text and setting it down as quickly as we could. Tom wrote the text based upon what we got from screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, things I’d discovered in my research, storyline points that needed to be factored in. By the time we walked out at two, we basically had the Pirate Code finished.”

Previously, Peck and Van Stone had combed through the manuscript archives of UCLA for inspiration. “We walked into the basement, and there was this beautiful, big library room, low key lighting as if you were going to see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, and there was a 40 foot long beautiful wooden table covered with manuscripts. They laid all of these old books out for us to look at, and we studied them microscopically. Mark pointed out little details that I would never have picked up on, like showing that certain parchment were embedded with the follicle hairs of a pig. We spent ten hours there, and walked away with this great archive of researching photos that we wanted to implement. Parchment was scarce back then, so you would see where they would scratch off the ink and write over it, or sew additions on top of the original paper. We tried to put ourselves in the pirate world, wondering what they would be doing, what they would be eating. Maybe there was a parrot on someone’s shoulder, and the sunflower seeds that the bird was eating fell down into the middle of the book, or some ashes from a pipe they were smoking became ingrained into the paper.”

After Peck, Mallory and Van Stone completed their “first draft,” conceptual consultant James Ward Byrkit became involved in the process, drawing illustrations and creating other materials. “Jim came up with some wonderful stuff,” says Peck, “like how to attack a ship, or a castle. We have all kinds of things in the book, including recipes for beer, or where you can find the best brothel in Singapore. Jim helped us lay in the character and texture of the Pirate Code. We have wine stains, blood stains, sunflower seeds, wax stamps and seals, and addendums actually sewn onto the parchment pages.”

The final dimensions of the Pirata Codex were 20 X 28, with the embossed covers an inch bigger, and the “hero” version of the book weighed some 80 pounds and contained a thousand pages of textured parchment. “So we had to make two books,” Peck continues, “because we had these two little old men in the film, sort of like a 90-year-old ZZ Top with beards down to here, playing the pirate librarians, who have to carry it. And since Captain Teague, played by Keith Richards, is the Keeper of the Code, we wanted to give him something easier to work with. So the second version only weighed about ten pounds.”

Next Page – Chapter 10: The Climactic Maelstrom Scene

For the climactic “Maelstrom” sequence of “At World’s End”-the massive, apocalyptic battle between the pirate and British East India Company armadas that takes place in a supernaturally-induced storm of monumental proportions-the filmmakers had to find a facility in which they could build full-sized replicas of both the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman from the decks up, as well as various other set pieces.

The only such structure anywhere near Los Angeles (or perhaps anywhere else, for that matter) was Building #703 of the enigmatically named “Site 9.” This elephantine 600 foot long, 300 foot wide and 70 foot tall hangar in the desert community of Palmdale, California-58 miles north of The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank-was built by Rockwell International in 1983 for the assembly of 100 B-1 bombers, and had over the past few years been used as a shooting stage for a number of films, including Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal.

“This is one of the most elaborate and ambitious action sequences I’ve ever seen conceived for a film,” notes Rick Heinrichs, “and it requires coordination of several departments, including ours, visual effects and special physical effects. If it’s even 85% of what we hope for, it will be off the charts.” Adds executive producer Mike Stenson, “You walked inside of that hangar, and it was like Area 51.”

Inside of “Site 9,” Rick Heinrichs worked in synergistic conjunction with another Academy Award-winner, special effects supervisor John Frazier (Spider-Man 2), to construct the Pearl and the Dutchman, decks up, mounted on massive, highly sophisticated motion bases, surrounded by gigantic blue screen backings. “John Frazier is the best special physical effects supervisor there is,” says Stenson. “Nobody else could have pulled off the physical elements of the special effects that we do in this movie.”

Frazier and his team designed and built the motion bases for the two key prop ships, as well as another rig for both the scene in which the Hai Peng goes off the edge of the world, and the “Green Flash” sequence, in which the Black Pearl passes between worlds by turning completely upside down in the ocean. “What we decided to do on At World’s End that has never been done before on any motion picture,” notes Frazier, “was to put a tower at each end of the two ships which allowed us to heave them up 15 feet. And by doing that, we were able to get the actual realistic movement of a ship in the ocean. Normally, we pivot it in the center, but ships don’t do that. In this case, we pivoted the ships on each end to bring the bow up and down, and then we had two hydraulic rams on the either side of the ships that allowed them to roll.”

The construction of the full-sized Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman on Frazier’s motion bases was a huge collaboration between several departments. “We built the motion bases in three months, but in stages. Greg Callas’ construction department built the ships on top of our truss. Then we built the towers on each end of the ships which make them move up and down. We then designed a computerized system to operate them from sort of a mission control. We had 150 special effects welders on the project, and we were working 24/7. They never stopped. The day guys would cut the pieces and lay it out, and the equally talented night guys would weld it all together. All 150 people who worked on this project gave us 150 percent. It’s a long, long process to tune these motion bases with the computer, and requires a lot of patience. It’s like watching paint dry, but our computer team had the necessary patience, and were terrific at their work. They didn’t turn the system on until every bar was synched up, and every graph was there.

“The hydraulics team also stepped up to the plate,” continues Frazier. “There are over 2000 feet of hydraulic hose that runs to the motion bases. There are over one million pounds of steel, some of which didn’t exist, so we had to have a special run made. Nobody had ever done this before, and it was a big honor for us to be chosen for this project.

“In the amount of time that we had to design and create this monster, three ships built on three motion bases in three months is pretty much unheard of,” Frazier admits. “Previous to this, the biggest motion base we built was for the U.S.S. Oklahoma for Jerry Bruckheimer’s `Pearl Harbor,’ and we said that we would never build anything bigger than that. Then along comes `At World’s End,’ and it’s absolutely the biggest thing we’ve ever done, and I can’t imagine that it will happen again. This is the Super Bowl of motion pictures.”

When the ships and gigantic rigs-each weighing more than a million pounds each-had to be moved from one position to another inside of “Site 9,” simple looking but high tech air bearings were called into play, something like mini hovercraft capable of carrying 60 tons. “It’s the best way to move a million pounds of ship,” explains John Frazier. “If you could imagine an air hockey game that’s upside down, that’s what we’re doing… taking the table and putting it on top, and letting the hockey puck move it around. The biggest thing about moving the ships isn’t the moving, but stopping them. Once you take that million and build up that inertia, it’s hard to stop it. So we take these big 12,000 pound forklifts and we chain them right to the motion base so it can’t get away from us. We could literally just move the bases, and the ships, anywhere in the hangar that we wanted.”

For the special lighting required of any blue screen sequence, cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and his gaffer Raphael Sanchez designed a staggeringly complex grid of 1400 space lights, as well as some 40 lights around the 60-foot-tall blue screen that surrounds the ships and at least eight 10,000 amp truck generators, as well as 60 miles of cable and 3,000 frequencies for the dimmer boards. “We created 108,000 kilowatts of power,” noted executive producer Eric McLeod, “enough to literally light 500 homes.”

Frazier and his team of technical experts also designed a system of piping and rain heads installed into the ceiling of the hangar which poured down hammering showers onto the ships (and the actors, stuntmen and crew), driven by several gigantic fans capable of blowing winds up to 100 miles per hour. The rain had to be carefully calibrated and developed by John Frazier and his crew. “We started by testing rain heads for weeks, and finally got the look that Gore wanted,” notes the special effects supervisor. “Then we have to change the heads, because when Gore is shooting a close-up, you don’t want big raindrops falling on people. You need something finer. So we switch out the rain heads depending upon whether it’s a long shot or closeup.

“Because of the size of the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman, we were probably pumping somewhere around 25,000 gallons of water a minute. This is more rain than has ever been created on a motion picture soundstage. We put tanks outside of the hangar, hooked up the pumps, filtered and heated the water, so basically what we have is this big revolving waterslide. We pump the water in, it goes up 80 feet, rains down on the set, hits the stage floor, goes into the utility corridors that were originally built into the floors, back into the tanks that we have outside, and, recycled, back in again.”

Next Page – Chapter 11: Inside of the Massive “Site 9″ Hangar

Gore Verbinski and his crew donned protective gear to allow the water to roll off their backs, as much as possible anyway. The stars and stunt players weren’t so fortunate. Says Keira Knightley, “You get into costume. You’ve got a wet suit on underneath, which obviously makes going to the toilet really tricky.

Then they turn the rain on, and you’re drenched within 10 seconds. I just feel sorry for the crew because they’re in it all day long. The rain is so heavy at times that you literally cannot see. When the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman are side-by-side, we’re working on a 15 percent slope, in which you’re running uphill doing a swordfight in torrential rain, with an entire camera crew coming at you. It’ll look great, but it’s definitely a hard one to work on.”

“I wouldn’t call it acting, I call it survival,” laughs Orlando Bloom. “It’s kind of brutal to stay wet from eight in the morning until eight at night. Even though they turn off the rain machines between takes, you’re still soaked all the way through, and I’d be lying if I said it was fun. But it’s hard on everyone, not just the actors. And ultimately, we all have a lot of confidence in the destination, and know that it’s worth the effort.”

“The Maelstrom is like the biblical whirlpool from hell, and we’re shooting it the way Cecil B. DeMille probably would have,” says Geoffrey Rush. “It’s absolutely massive.”

“We were running away from hurricanes in the Bahamas,” adds Johnny Depp, “shooting in Dominica during the rainy season in a rain forest, and then we went to the desert, in Palmdale, filming in a torrential downpour and about 75 knots of wind inside of a massive facility on a ship tilted to a 15 percent rake on the gimbal.

“Once again, this is another one of those situations where it’s so weird that you just don’t question it anymore. `Johnny, we’re going drive you an hour and a half up to the desert, you’re going to climb aboard the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman built on gigantic rigs, and we’re going to drench you in high winds while you swordfight at a steep angle.

“And you just kind of go, `Okay, fine. No problem.’”

One aspect of the Maelstrom shoot-which lasted for nearly four months-was the change in weather outside of the hangar in desert Palmdale…from the raging 110 degree heat of mid-September to the 20 degree Fahrenheit nighttime chill of early December. Not so bad if one could stay indoors all day, but basecamp was outside, which one had to pass through to a second hangar which housed 50 makeup stations for background players, as well as seating for meals. Sooner or later, the drenched actors, stunt and background players had to expose themselves to the elements, whether hellishly hot or bone-chillingly cold, not to mention the sometimes fierce desert winds whipping across the landscape.

“Obviously, the `Maelstrom’ climax was the most spectacular and challenging for us on `At World’s End,’” notes stunt coordinator George Marshall Ruge. “All of the principal cast were involved, and there were multiple story lines being played out within the epic action.” For this massive final ship-to-ship showdown between the pirates and the East India Trading Company, Ruge coordinated stunt sequences both in The Bahamas and inside of the massive “Site 9” hangar used for shooting in Palmdale, California. “Because the ship set pieces on Grand Bahama were not particularly designed for stunt rigging opportunities, we had to be very creative to pull off the creative action,” says Ruge. “These ships and the pirates on them take heavy cannon fire. We used multiple air ramps and wire/ratchet work to create the illusion of our stunt pirates taking this fire. And because these were floating set pieces, we had the luxury of selling this action all the way to the water in many instances.

“Inside of the Palmdale stage, we at least had the luxury of being indoors and not having to worry about the elements, but we faced a new whole new set of challenges because of the immense number of visual and physical effects required for the sequence.”

The stars finding themselves clinging onto the edge of the Black Pearl for dear life on John Frazier’s “tilt rig” for the Green Flash sequence became major stunt players themselves. “It was actually really scary,” admits Naomie Harris. “The only thing that stopped me from screaming was the fact that I was roped down and no one else was screaming, so I would have felt stupid if I had…but I really wanted to.” The Green Flash was a combination of material shot with the actual Black Pearl gimbaled in the tank on Grand Bahama Island by special effects coordinator Allen Hall and his crew, a Pearl setpiece mounted on John Frazier’s tilt rig in the Palmdale hangar, and underwater shooting in another tank in the Falls Lake section of the Universal Studios backlot.

The Hai Peng’s descent over the edge of the world was also a matter of putting together a complex cinematic puzzle that had been evolving over months. “It began, filming-wise, by shooting from tugboats in Greenland going through ice fields,” explains executive producer Eric McLeod. “That sequence alone was shot almost two years before. We also shot plates in Niagara Falls. And from there, we had a motion base specifically built for the Hai Peng that can take 100 feet of the set and tilt it at 90 degree angles. We filmed the dialogue portion about four feet off the ground on the full sized Hai Peng, then had a large crane come in, set up the Hai Peng setpiece onto the motion base, strap the cast in with safety lines on them and the crew, and then tilt the set. It’s a little nerve wracking when you have your cast up there dangling. At first everyone’s a little timid and reserved, but after a while, you could take them anywhere. It’s like,` Oh, you have to jump out of a boat, rappel down a cliff, and hang from a ship at a 90 degree angle and have chairs and barrels fall down on you from the deck,’ and everyone’s like `Oh, okay, that’s great. I can deal with that.’”

Riding the waves, sometimes literally, was director of photography Dariusz (Darek) Wolski, who along with his team of camera operators, clappers, loaders and assistants, as well as key grip Mike (Pop) Popovich and chief lighting technician Rafael (Raffi) Sanchez

met every impossible challenge with a high degree of extemporaneous imagination. “We’ve had an amazing opportunity on these films to experiment and do different ways of filming,” says Wolski. “We’ve shot pretty much every possible thing: in the jungles, on the water, under the water, in dark holes, on soundstages, in super-bright salt flats. In terms of scale, I will never be able to top `Dead Man’s Chest.’ To go any farther, you’d have to completely go in the opposite direction.”

In the post-production phase, it would be up to John Knoll and his team at ILM to provide the environments, including the churning, turbulent sea and terrifying, mile-long whirlpool that threatens any ship that comes too close to its vortex. “Visually, it’s a very bold idea,” says Knoll, “but there’s not really anything that you can shoot practically for that. So all the water has to be computer-generated throughout, and it’s very difficult to do that very realistically. We’re going to end up with approximately 400 visual effects shots in that sequence, with rain, giant waves, whitecaps, foam and spray. These are all challenging things to execute believably.

“What’s happening in the foreground is pretty complicated as well,” Knoll explains. “There’s a huge battle between the Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman, so we have computer-generated characters in the midst of rain, atmospherics and splintering wood. Not to mention hundreds of pirate and EITC ships that are seen in the sequence.”

Next Page – Chapter 12: Dressed for Success

Costume designer Penny Rose, who amply demonstrated her prodigious talents on both “The Curse of the Black Pearl” and “Dead Man’s Chest,” went beyond the Farthest Gate on “At World’s End,” helping to extend the pirate world well beyond that depicted in the first two films. “We’d done Caribbean pirates to death, and now we were going to have some new ingredients,” explains Rose. “We got a lot of pictorial and editorial information about piracy in different parts of the world. I prepare the films in London, which is a very good base to do that kind of research.”

Rose and her crew literally combed the world for fabrics and materials from which to create the thousands of costumes required for “At World’s End.” “I spend three or four weeks intensively shopping at textile fairs, or with antique textile dealers,” she says. “I go to Rome, Madrid, Paris, New York, and buy myself a great, huge store of stuff. Then it travels everywhere we go… we have workrooms on all of the islands and locations where we shoot, so that everything is within the room. It’s like I have a toyshop here, and when the actors come in I can offer them options and let them choose, because I like everything here anyway. It’s really important for the actors to become involved.

“The moment in the dressing room with the actors is the high point of the work. Far more important and exhilarating to me than how much money the film makes is to send the actors away having visually found the character they’re playing. That’s what I’m here to do.”

For “At World’s End,” the story and character developments go hand-in-hand with their costume changes. Except, of course, for Captain Jack Sparrow. “Jack can never change,” insists Rose. “He doesn’t have a closet full of clothes. He is Captain Jack, and the clothes make the man. Same with Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Barbossa. So in terms of the two of them, it was simply a question of remaking more, more, more, which was in itself quite a challenge because it was difficult to find the original textiles.

“For example,” Rose continues, “Captain Jack’s sash was made by a hill tribe in Turkey, and I had to send someone to Turkey to persuade that tribe to weave me some more of the sash material. Because we tried to print it on old French hemp and linen sheets, but it just wasn’t the same. So the hill tribe people made me another hundred yards.

“We see a more confident and powerful Will Turner and a new and exciting Elizabeth Swann,” informs Rose. “We’ve given Orlando an embossed buckskin vest, a dark, wine-colored shirt and a beautiful, mud cloth coat. I think it’s important that in the third film, you’re slightly confused as to whose side Will is on, so we needed to help his character look a little bit darker, metaphorically. He has a rather wonderful dark, dark midnight blue coat made out of mudcloth, which looks very romantic and mysterious.

“Keira gets to wear a Chinese courtesan costume, with a heavily jeweled and ornate headdress and matching collar piece, a tasseled vest and a completely embroidered silk gown with what would probably have been a skirt, but which, for practical reasons, we turned into a culotte so that when she gets to the fighting sequences, we could lose the vest and the other accessories and go straight into action mode.”

Rose also designed an astonishing costume for the legendary Chow Yun-Fat, who portrays Captain Sao Feng, which weighed a grand total of 35 pounds in its entirety. “Yun-Fat is the Laurence Olivier of the East, and it took less than 10 minutes of the fitting to know that this fellow really knows his stuff,” says Rose. “Yun-Fat knows how to envelope himself into the character, he knew we were here to give him the visual, and he did everything possible to help us. It very quickly evolved into a joint decision-making process about what’s happening in that mirror, how we could progress and make it a bigger and better work. Chow Yun-Fat has a powerful presence in person, but we needed this Chinese pirate captain to be terrifying.”

Rose also had an opportunity to design a costume for Bill Nighy in a flashback scene in which the audience can see what Davy Jones looked like as a man “before he was under the sea for years and years and barnacled up. We finally get Bill out of those gray CGI reference pajamas, for which he’s very, very grateful,” she says with a laugh. “We really set to and made a fabulous costume for Bill, because he was so relieved to be out of gray. I bought some linen damask from a mill in Umbria that we hadn’t used yet, and dyed it beautifully. We just thought that since Bill is a very elegant man, Davy Jones could, perhaps, in his past have been quite a snappy dresser. So we made him a square cut coat from that damask linen.”

For the film, Rose also designed costumes for buccaneers from all corners of the globe: Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Primary among this group are the Pirate Lords who convene in Shipwreck Cove, and chief among them are the Keeper of the Code, Captain Teague…played by the artist also known as Keith Richards. “I was fortunate enough to give Mr. Richards a fitting in July 2005, when he was in Los Angeles just prior to the band rehearsals,” recalls Rose. “And it so happened that it was a week when Johnny Depp was not working, so I asked him to come with me, which he very kindly did. I must say, it was fairly hilarious to see the two of them together, because once Keith was dressed in costume, you really could believe that the two of them were related.

“It was a bizarre moment,” continues Rose, “because how often do you get to costume a rock icon? (Well, actually, Rose has done it before… for Bob Geldof in “Pink Floyd: The Wall,” and Madonna in “Evita”). But Keith was dying to be a pirate. I mean, he wanted to go out that night dressed in the pirate costume! So I think he really enjoyed the process.

“Every single one of the Pirate Lords had a different identity based upon where they’d come from-China, India, France, Spain, Africa-plus their entourages. All of the textiles I used were specifically different in each group.”

Next Page – Chapter 13: The Pirate Makers

Make-Up department head and make-up effects creator Ve Neill, along with make-up effects supervisor Joel Harlow and their huge crew, had their hands full once again taking perfectly reasonable looking human beings into their trailer, and then unleashing an astounding assortment of international pirates, soldiers, creatures and more proletarian citizens of the Caribbean, Asia and Great Britain upon the world. “I think at our peek we had, not even counting the people in the make-up trailers, probably about 45 make-up artists working with background players on some,” says Neill.

Some of the biggest and most difficult days were actually on the Universal Studios backlot, where Neill, Harlow and company were weaving their magical transformations for the Singapore sequence. “We did lots of prosthetics for Singapore. When Sao Feng’s pirates are in the bathhouse, they actually have mushrooms growing out of them, so as to make them appear as though they have been sitting in there for months on end. We wanted to give the Asian pirates, like the other pirates, a really aged, roughed-out look. We make them tan, dirty, stipple to give them a more rugged appearance, and lots of dirt. Oh, and don’t forget the rotten teeth. On `The Curse of the Black Pearl,’ we were painting their teeth, which became a little bit of a drama. Gore would be getting ready to roll, somebody would go and eat an apple, and all of a sudden they didn’t have rotten teeth anymore. So what we did for `Dead Man’s Chest’ and `At World’s End’ was to have a traveling lab with us for dental prosthetics.”

As befits his continued deterioration and merging with the ship to which he’s enslaved, “Bootstrap Bill does progress quite a bit in the third film,” notes Neill. “And unlike Davy Jones and the other members of his crew, it’s all make-up on Bootstrap, and no CGI. He’s a progressive silicone make-up in `At World’s End’ until he’s pretty much covered up, with very little of his own face left by the time he reaches what we called `stage 6.’ “I’ve had great fun,” enthuses Stellan Skarsgård, the distinguished Swedish actor who portrays Bootstrap Bill. “I mean, I spent more time in the make-up chair than in front of the camera.”

“Stellan was really into it,” continues Neill. “What a great guy. He was so patient and willing to sit for hours. He said that it helped him feel the character. But it was really difficult for Stellan to go through all those stages.”

Another actor who got the full treatment from Neill was Chow Yun-Fat, whose handsome, world famous visage was completely altered into a shaven-head, scarred scoundrel of the seas. “Chow was a lot of fun,” Neill says. “We shaved him, and he grew his own mustache and beard, which we then augmented. He also has a fabulous tattoo, which was designed by Ken Diaz, who runs background make-up and is a master tattoo artist.

The stars of `At World’s End’ also undergo some changes, except Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack. “Gore and Johnny both agreed that he has to be exactly who he is, without any changes,” continues Ve Neill. It’s great to have Geoffrey Rush back, and he’s completely fabricated. Beard, mustache, sideburns, wig, scar… all appliances. And because Geoffrey isn’t very old, I also do a big aging stipple all the way around so he gets all crusty and wrinkly. Keira has gotten more rugged as Elizabeth. She’s not that beautiful, pale-skinned little princess who we started off with in `Dead Man’s Chest’ at the wedding altar. She gets very tan, and dirty like the boys, quite womanly and brazen. And as Will, Orlando has a darker, moodier look.”

Once again, Neill worked in close concert with chief hairstylist Martin Samuel, with whom she shared an Academy Award nomination for their work on “The Curse of the Black Pearl.” “I think we all work together really well,” notes Neill. “It starts with costume designer Penny Rose, and we follow suit from there.” Samuel and his team provide the hundreds, if not thousands, of hair designs, wigs, extensions for a kaleidoscopic array of characters, from the traditional “pigtails” of the Chinese pirates to Admiral James Norrington’s powdered wig.

Next Page – Chapter 14: Special Effects: Maelstroms, Squid-Faced Captains

Special Effects: Maelstroms, Squid-Faced Captains and Blue Balls… were all, and much more, within the domain of visual effects supervisors John Knoll of Industrial Light + Magic and Charles Gibson, both of whom shared an Academy Award for their ground-breaking, widely acclaimed work on `Dead Man’s Chest’ with animation supervisor Hal Hickel. For `At World’s End,” another previous Academy Award winner, John Frazier, also handled many of the film’s massive special physical effects. Knoll, Gibson and Hickel had little time to rest on their Oscar laurels. That was just the eye of the hurricane, for the early morning after accepting their honors for “Dead Man’s Chest” at the Academy Awards podium, the trio were right back at work at the approximately 2000 visual effects shots required for “At World’s End.”

Even in today’s digital universe, in which every other feature film seems to have complex CGI effects, audiences and critics alike praised the film’s effects as a genuine, quantum leap in what can be accomplished on screen using state-of-the-art technology.

As always, though, Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer fully expected Knoll and Gibson to raise the bar a little higher for `At World’s End.’ “This is a very large show for us,” Knoll admits. “There will be many more visual effects shots than `Dead Man’s Chest,’ and because of the extremely short post-production schedule, I’m supervising some, Charlie Gibson is supervising others, and the rest are distributed among a number of visual effects facilities.

“Usually, when a challenge like that is thrown down,” continues Knoll, “you think about `Well, how are we going to execute this, and is there any aspect of that that we can’t do with our current toolset? And if there is, I have to talk to research and development about getting some modifications so that we can do these shots. And that’s a situation that happens pretty often. On almost every film, we do something that’s new, or tools that need to be modified.”

The massive setpieces in which Knoll and Gibson needed to make mighty contributions-Davy Jones’ Locker, Singapore, the Green Flash and of course, the gigantic Maelstrom which climaxes the film-always combined visual with mechanical and “in-camera” effects. Explains Knoll, “Gore feels very strongly, and I agree with him, that it’s important to have real elements in there. As much as you can do real, the more plausible and realistic the final results will be. Gore’s a strong proponent of trying to get practical elements on set, to get these as much on camera as you can and then use visual effects where you really need them. And also, not to rely too much on one technique. So in one shot, for example, you’ll have a background extension that’s a miniature, and in another shot we’re doing something with computer graphics. As long as you’re switching things around a little bit, the audience doesn’t key into being able to see the artifice of one particular technique, and we end up with a better looking result.”

One aspect of “At World’s End” which was not particularly worrying Knoll was Davy Jones, which, as portrayed by Bill Nighy and brought to life by the supervisor and his ILM team of artists, had amazed the world in “Dead Man’s Chest.” For that film, Knoll and ILM created a new motion-capture system which they called Imocap, drastically simplifying what was previously required for such techniques. Rather than needing 16 cameras, Knoll and his team invented a system that was completely mobile, requiring just three cameras and sensor-embedded suits for the actors, without the cumbersome separate sound stage and blue screens that had been the mainstay of the system before their innovations.

“Davy was our big focus in the second film, and I think we have all the look and rendering technology down at this point. Hal Hickel, our animation supervisor, and his team are familiar with the character now, so we’ve got a good repertoire to work from for Davy and his Flying Dutchman crew. In fact, the 16 primary Dutchman crew members created for “Dead Man’s Chest” was increased in “At World’s End,” particularly for the Maelstrom sequence. Says Knoll, “We definitely take some of the characters that were more background in the second film, and shuffle them around to the front to get a little mileage out of them.”

Knoll admits that “of all three pictures, probably the most fun aspect of any of them has been our involvement in the creation of Davy Jones. That was a really great partnership with Bill Nighy, who gave a fantastic performance on set, and all that without any real proof of concept. You know, we asked him to wear the unsettling computer gray `pajamas’ on set, and we couldn’t really show him what it was going to look like when it was done, but he dove right in there and delivered these great performances, created an amazing character and gave us fantastic material to work with. The artists back at ILM did a fantastic job modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering, just beautiful animation. I think Davy Jones is a really special character in every way.”

For the extraordinarily challenging post-production process, Knoll explains that “because of the size of the show and the number of shots we have to finish per week, we need to have regular feedback from Gore. So, given that he’s just as busy as we are in post-production, when he’s editing the movie, working on sound, ADR, all of those finishing touches to get the movie done, it’s not convenient for him to fly up to ILM in San Francisco from Los Angeles. And it would be a big imposition on my time to be flying down regularly when I really need to be with my crew at ILM. So we do these video conferences twice a week, at least up until the final weeks. Then, when we get into the final weeks, we do them every day!

“We go over all of our work in progress on a two-way video conference so that Gore can see both the shot that we’re working on. Because a lot of what we do involves hand gestures and that sort of thing, it’s important to actually see each other while we’re doing that.”

Of all the bizarre sights that the “Pirates” company was privy to-and heaven knows, there were many-perhaps one of the strangest was the dumping of some 175,000 lightweight, plastic, blue balls from two nets high above the Site 9 hangar floor in Palmdale, and onto the deck of the gimbal-mounted Black Pearl. The truth is, they only looked like blue balls, but they were, in fact, thousands of skittering, jittery, watery crabs. Or at least, they would be by the time John Knoll and ILM got finished with them.

Explains Knoll, “There’s an important scene during the Maelstrom sequence that involves a hundred thousand crabs which rain over the whole deck of the Black Pearl and sweep away everybody in their path like some kind of crustacean avalanche. Gore came up with the idea of using the blue plastic balls, just like the ones that are in the ball pits of children’s amusement areas. He thought that the balls would literally knock everybody off their feet without doing any real damage because of their light weight.

“I might have been inclined to try and accomplish that effect with digital doubles,” Knoll continues, “and maybe use some sort of wire rig to show the pirates being knocked down. But Gore is a strong proponent of trying to get practical elements on set, to get as much into the camera as you can, and then use visual effects where you really need them.”

“The crabs themselves are computer generated models. We built one detailed version of the crab, and then several variations on it.”

When the balls rained down upon the company from the netting, crew members’ maturity levels seemed to drop to the equivalent, say, of a five or six year old, as they merrily began to pitch the balls at each other in all directions on the Black Pearl… Gore Verbinski perhaps most enthusiastically of all. And considering the fact that it was an exhausting day #252 of the combined shoot, it’s understandable that about three hundred cases of blue balls could be such an instant morale booster. “It’s amazing to see a bunch of grown men and women turn into three-year-olds,” laughs stunt coordinator George Marshall Ruge. “You know, seeing Orlando Bloom fling a blue ball at Geoffrey Rush… that’s unique. It was, like, is it time for the parents to come and pick up the kids?”

Ultimately, Verbinski sought to combine the best of the old with a walloping dollop of the new. Profers executive producer Mike Stenson, “’Pirates’ is a unique combination of the `Lawrence of Arabia’ days, where you go out there and shoot everything in camera, and the most state-of-the-art technology. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much longer the industry will be able to support that. I think it would be sad if, at the end of the day, we ended up shooting everything on sound stages with green screens and digital effects, as opposed to actually being able to go out and shoot practical material all over the Caribbean. But then again, something like the Maelstrom is so technically difficult, that you couldn’t have shot it on location no matter what amount of money you had. It had to be done on an effects stage.”

In addition to his tremendous work designing and constructing the motion base gimbals for the Palmdale hangar, John Frazier and his team of longtime collaborators were responsible for a bewildering number of other physical effects. “Our function as special effects men as, if it moves or it’s in the atmosphere, we do it,” says the multiple Academy Award winning artist. “It could be smoke in the air, or coming up with the concept for the right kind of rain that Gore wants, or wind, or cannon fire.” In fact, Frazier’s pyro unit provided no less than 982 pounds of black powder for the Maelstrom battle, and fired off the cannons some 1200 times, and the ringing ears of the cast and crew are living proof of the physical effects wizards’ high decibel output!

Next Page – Chapter 15: Props: Weapons, Maps, Rings or Whatever 

Whether it’s the weaponry of all nations, drooping telescopes, Jack Sparrow’s rings, pieces of eight which actually resemble pieces of junk, a Pirate Code book or practically anything else one can imagine being handled in the pirate world, property master Kris Peck and his merry band could be relied upon to, by hook or by crook, come up with the goods. With the aide of armourer Harry Lu and historical adviser Peter Twist, Peck either found or fabricated a multitude of weaponry for pirates of all nations, the crusty Flying Dutchman crewmen and East India Trading Company troops.

As Gore Verbinski himself is the first to point out, filmmaking is a collaborative art. And for the past dozen years, one of the director’s closest collaborators has been James Ward Byrkit, a true jack-of-all-trades who, though unseen and (for the time being, anyway) fairly unknown by the millions of “Pirates” trilogy fans, has made indelible contributions to the films on several levels. Byrkit’s end roll title is the rather enigmatic “conceptual consultant.”

He explains, “We had to come up with our own credit, because what I was doing sort of became a lot more expansive than just storyboards. Gore and I started working together when he was directing commercials, and I would storyboard for him. Then, when he started making movies, he would bring me in from time to time and my work expanded. For “Pirates,” we would talk about the script, story, themes, character beats, things that go beyond traditional storyboarding. The best part about films like Pirates of the Caribbean is that there’s lots of room for creative enhancement.”

In addition to the more than 3,000 storyboards for “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End” that Byrkit created (he also did three weeks of consultancy work on “The Curse of the Black Pearl,” doing the very first drawing of the Black Pearl and other ships), he also bounced back and forth between departments, such as production design, props and the pre-visualization team, helping with simplified animatics of the overwhelmingly complex action sequences that were a blueprint for Verbinski on set, and later, for Industrial Light + Magic’s visual effects.

One project that truly demonstrates synergy between behind-the-scenes artists is the magical map to uncharted realms that our anti-heroes acquire from Singapore pirate lord, Captain Sao Feng, in “At World’s End” that will take them to… well… not only World’s End, but places beyond, around, and upside-down. “We had this big meeting back in July 2005 for which Gore called everybody in,” recalls Byrkit. “He knew that he needed this great map, but wasn’t sure what form it would take. He just knew that he wanted it to be very special, and something we hadn’t seen before. He also wanted there to be secrets to the map: perhaps it changed form and revealed things. We came up with things as varied as something like a pop-up book in which you grab the center of the map and pull it out like a Chinese lantern, or the idea that if you shone a light underneath the map it would project this whole universe, like a planetarium, on the ceiling or the walls. I actually bought a bunch of Chinese lanterns and tried to paint a globe on them, and spent about a week of research and development trying to see if it would work. And after a week, I just knew that it wasn’t going to work.

“So I went back to an earlier idea that I had about a circular map with rings that represented metaphorical places to which you could travel, which I thought tied into the whole “Pirates” theme. Gore and I had been talking about the notion that “Pirates of the Caribbean” takes place during a time in history in which the maps weren’t yet filled in, which means that anything is possible in the world. There are all these places in the world that are Terra Incognita-lands that are unknown-so they could have monsters, they could have magic, they could have new civilizations. I loved the idea that this map was very old, made before the Enlightenment, before people got so scientific about mapmaking, when they still blurred the geographical realities with metaphorical inner journeys which are as important as physical journeys.

“When I showed the mockup of the circular map to Gore,” Byrkit continues, “he said `That’s it! Now, not only do the rings move, but you need shapes to start appearing, and land masses that become shapes.’ I went back and, based upon several conversations and input from Gore, painted a final map which took several months, because it kept evolving. The rings can line up in infinitely different ways, like a combination lock, and each way reveals some new secret, some unknown territory, some unexplored place, some metaphysical place, some parallel universe.

“It took seven or eight months of putting all the elements together, testing them, and making them right. I had several hundred phrases and names of places which I needed to be translated into Chinese calligraphy, so propmaster Kris Peck brought in an expert named J.C. Brown who’s worked on films like “The Last Samurai” and “Memoirs of a Geisha,” to make sure the brushstrokes were right. The original painting was done on washi-handmade Japanese rice paper-that I treated with layer upon layer of transparent washes of watercolors, some acrylic and artist inks. It has a really amazing, transluscent quality to it, and you can tell that there’s a history to it. Over the centuries, pirates have added their own secrets, scribbled notes to each other, just unlimited mysteries that it holds within.”

The final map, burnished with the patina of time, was converted by Peck into an actual prop and created the mechanics that make the rings turn in an entirely “practical” manner, with no CGI enhancements. “The inner workings of the map underneath are really beautiful,” enthuses Byrkit, “like a grandfather clock.”

In addition to such poetic places on the map, depicted in Chinese characters, as “Ghosts of Lost Souls at Sea to be Shepherded Through the Watery Passageway,” “Forgotten Sailors Sleep with Eyes Open Dreaming of a Salt Water Death” and “The Rich Man Finds No More Hope of Continued Life-Death Will Always Be A Stairway Behind,” there are also paintings of several creatures both real and mythological on the map, including a dragon, a tiger and another small creature who looks curiously like an early version of a certain undeniably cute little animal who was to become the world’s most legendary mouse. But when asked about it, Byrkit just mischievously smiles, and says “There are some secrets on the map that are beyond even my understanding!”

As costume designer Penny Rose is the first to point out, Captain Jack Sparrow’s indelible, pirate-bohemian look never, ever changes from “The Curse of the Black Pearl” to “At World’s End.” Well, almost never. Because if one looks at Captain Jack’s expressive, ever in motion hands, one will notice that in between the first and second films, the rings on his fingers (if not on his toes) grew from one to four.

In conversations between Johnny Depp and Penny Rose, the two decided that Captain Jack has had a few ladies in his day, sometimes very rich, sometimes widowed, sometimes with husbands far away. So every now and then, Witty Jack (as Tia Dalma aptly dubs him) gets into their jewelry boxes and helps himself to, shall we say, a souvenir of their romantic encounter. Then it was up to Kris Peck to supply the actual items, which were carefully chosen by Depp according to what he most felt Captain Jack would care to show off as part of his overall couture.

“The original ring that I wore in “The Curse of the Black Pearl” with the little skulls was one that I found about 17 years ago in a thrift store or something,” recalls Depp of the piece of jewelry which Captain Jack wears on his right index finger. On the wedding finger of his left hand, the good Captain sports a black and gold ring with three diamonds and a floral design, decidedly feminine and undoubtedly one of the pieces of memorabilia of a one night, or two hour stand with an elegant lady of high or low quality (Johnny Depp decided that she was, in fact, a Spanish widow). What Peck calls the “dragon ring,” a large item with a graceful gold dragon, wings outstretched, embedded in jade, is worn on Jack’s left index finger. However, in “Dead Man’s Chest,” while perusing Tia Dalma’s treasures in her swampland shack, Captain Jack considers exchanging the dragon ring for one with a large purple stone in a solid gold base…then decides to stealthily nick it instead, slipping it onto his left index finger, and moving the dragon ring to his left thumb, thus gracing four of his ten digits with elegant adornments.

Next Page – Chapter 16: The Wrap of Captain Jack: At Production’s End

This purple ring was artfully re-created by Kris Peck from a 2,400 year old original that was actually owned by Johnny Depp until the Fates had their way, and it tragically went missing during the filming of Dead Man’s Chest. Seems as if it wasn’t only Captain Jack who had a light-fingered touch!

On the last day of the combined “Dead Man’s Chest and “At World’s End” shoot, for all of that day, and the one preceding, the usual raucous and explosively noisy atmosphere of filming inside of the “Site 9” hangar gave way to a hushed, almost cathedral-like mood. Only Johnny Depp was working on those days-the hundreds of extras and stunt players that usually populated the set were taking a day of rest, and it was remarkably peaceful and quiet.

On both days, members of the crew had almost confused looks on their faces, as the realization dawned that incredibly, the impending departure of Depp proferred some kind of proof that filming was, incredibly, drawing to an inexorable finale. “It’s not a gig, it’s a lifestyle,” was a refrain often heard amidst the company…you wake up, you get dressed, you go pirating for 12 to 14 hours a day, and you just keep doing it week after week, month after month, and, for that matter, year after year.

Although Depp completed his last scene at about noon, he was put into a holding pattern until Gore Verbinski learned whether or not some footage shot the day before has made it cleanly from the camera to processing in the lab. Six hours later, the word came in that all looked fine…which meant that Johnny Depp was free to leave.

Except that four years, one month and 8 days after “The Curse of the Black Pearl” first commenced filming, Depp wasn’t quite sure that he wanted to.

“The possibility of saying goodbye to Captain Jack perhaps forever is not one I look forward to,” he said about a month earlier while filming in the Rancho Guadalupe Dunes near Santa Maria, California. “But if that is the case, we had a good run. I know Captain Jack will always make me smile.

`Pirates’ has done a lot for me, and in every way you can imagine. But most importantly, what I’ve felt is this intense, pure joy. Playing this character, and being this character and delivering this character will always bring a smile to my face… always make me happy and proud.”

In the hangar, a large pastry which looked for all the world like the birthday cake for a little boy who’s crazy about pirates, replete with toy figures and little ships, was positioned next to the shooting set, reading:

DEAREST CAPTAIN JACK, MAY YOUR COMPASS ALWAYS LEAD YOU BACK TO US THANK YOU.

The group exploded into cheers and applause at Depp’s appearance in the hangar. “I’ll be incredibly brief,” he told his friends and comrades, “because I may weep. You guys have made this the most amazing experience of my life, except for having my kids. I’d go to war with any of you.

“I’m going to call this a break, or a hiatus, or something…it’s happened to us before, hasn’t it? But I don’t feel like I can say goodbye… certainly not to any of you… and not to Captain Jack either. “Thank you for the ride.”

Next Page – Chapter 17: Aloha Oe: Hawaii Farewell

“Aloha Oe” was the beautiful song of farewell written by Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii’s still-beloved last monarch. So perhaps it was fitting that the last three days of principal photography would take place on two of the most beautiful islands in the her still gorgeous kingdom.

Following yet another Christmas / New Year break, a reduced crew, along with Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, flew off once again in the second week of January 2007 for one final location: the magnificent islands of Maui and Molokai in the exquisite Hawaiian chain. Requiring a dramatic tropical locale, Bruckheimer, Verbinski and production designer Rick Heinrichs decided that it was far easier to find what they were looking for with a relatively quick 5-1/2 flight to Hawaii than spending 10 hours flying back to the West Indies.

Very remote locations were discovered by location scouts Laura Sode-Matteson and Val Kim (who, although now L.A.-based, are Hawaiians themselves) both on Maui, and then the nearby Molokai, which is a mere 15-minute flight away from the more heavily populated and touristed island. As usual, unpredictable weather followed the company right to the end, with the skies over Maui darkening dramatically throughout the shooting day, occasionally showering the company with water rather than sunshine. Nonetheless, the rugged coastline selected by Verbinski and the moody clouds formed a perfect backdrop to the scene.

Crew members lucky enough to be seated on the left side of the small prop airplane traveling from Maui to Molokai were amazed at the sight of the world’s highest sea cliffs, and the oceanfront settlement of Kalaupapa, the colony of those stricken with Hansen’s disease (leprosy), still in existence some one hundred years after they were ministered to by the legendary Father Damien, who himself died from the terrible ailment after contracting it from those he so lovingly tended to. Peaceful, traditional Molokai is also a refuge for traditional Hawaiian culture, proudly upheld by its hospitable inhabitants.

The two days in Molokai alternated clouds with brilliant sunlight. However, the beach location, dotted with sharp, black volcanic rocks, was nearly a mile from the nearest road, so access was difficult. So much, in fact, that ace pilot David Paris, who usually flew a helicopter for sweeping aerial shots, now utilized it for cargo duty, hauling the heavier equipment from basecamp to the beach with a net on multiple runs, both at the beginning and end of the filming days. “Gore is always looking for a visual treat,” notes Jerry Bruckheimer, “and he never takes it the easy way. He always wants something that’s really spectacular, something you haven’t seen before. So when we went to Molokai, Gore wanted to find a place in which to shoot that was almost impossible to get cameras and equipment into.”

“It was a good operation, very safe and well done,” adds first assistant director Dave Venghaus. “Everyone pitched in lugging equipment around the beach. It was fun, we got it done, and that’s the way you should do it. It was logistically very difficult, and watching our cast and crw climb up on volcanic rock was both interesting and unnerving.”

But as always, there were no obstacles to Verbinski completing the final, 272nd day of combined principal photography of “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End” (that’s 284 days if one counts pre-principal shooting) on January 10th, 2007, just a month-and-a-half shy of two years to the day that the cameras first rolled on February 23rd, 2005. And the finale was celebrated in suitably special fashion when the warm, aloha-drenched locals of Molokai feted the entire company with a real, down-home luau, replete with beautiful flower leis, a whole pig roasted in an imu (underground lava rock oven), such traditional foods as poi and haupia, and a rip-roaring performance by the young and enthusiastic members of a local halau (hula school).

It was a well deserved final gift of the heart to a company which had endured the extremes of filming conditions, weather, discomfort, geography, time away from family and home, and almost never wavered over the course of nearly 300 days of shooting. “I guess this is what Darwin was writing about,” joked Gore Verbinski as he surveyed the survivors-those faces which remained from the first day of production in February 2005-in the lunch tent on the final day of production in January 2007.

For Gore Verbinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, the end of shooting just marked the beginning of an unbelievably intensive four-and-a-half month post-production schedule which would see them working 24/7 with film editors Craig Wood and Stephen Rivkin, visual effects supervisors John Knoll and Charlie Gibson, the Academy Award-winning team of supervising sound editor/designer Christopher Boyes, supervising sound editor George Watters II and sound mixers Paul Massey and Boyes (all of whom were nominated in two different categories for “Dead Man’s Chest”), and an army of other technical artists.

And once again, as he has for the first two “Pirates” movies and several other Bruckheimer and Verbinski films, Hans Zimmer would again compose the music. “Hans is one of those artists who always comes up with something fresh, unique and different,” says Bruckheimer. “He’s a brilliant composer who has these wonderful melodies in his head. You hear the `Pirates’ theme everywhere now, and for `At World’s End’ he’s created several new motifs and melodies, as well as a new love theme. It’s wonderful to watch Hans in the recording sessions, when he has 80 musicians and talks to each individual violinist to tell them exactly the pitch, tone and feeling that he wants in every note.”

Next Page – Nothing But Praise for Gore Verbinski

As for the director’s punishing schedule, “Gore has been on these two movies for so long without a break that I’m not sure if he remembers the names of his kids at this point,” says Bruckheimer, half-jokingly. “He’s a consummate professional and perfectionist, so every little frame receives his complete attention. That’s the kind of director you want to work with.”

Two years is a long time in anyone’s life, and for the cast and crew that made it through all 284 combined marathon shooting days of “Dead Man’s Chest” and “At World’s End,” approaching wrap brought a bagful of seriously mixed emotions. “I’m proud of the journey we’ve all made over the past two years on these two movies,” states executive producer Eric McLeod. “It’s been a huge part of our lives, and I think in the end the crew will look back on the sacrifices they made and feel that it’s worth it, because a film like this is not a job. You make it through with a great group of people, and we’ll all be asked about them for years to come. We’ll all be telling stories about what it was like to work on the second and third `Pirates of the Caribbean’ films. To survive these two years, it was about getting along with others and being able to deal with constant change. A lot of people have come and gone on these films…we’ve had over 4,000 people work on both movies, but there was a core group that stayed on the whole time. These were films that could wear you out if you didn’t just focus and keep moving forward.”

Adds unit production manager Doug Merrifield, “Our crew are the top guns of the movie industry, the best of the best. There’s a certain type of crew that you need to be able to pull off these big pictures, and we certainly had that across all departments.” That, of course, included the cast. “It was a very physically challenging picture, and it’s a long time over the course of two years to stay in character,” notes Merrifield.

“It’s been such a chunk of my life,” notes Mackenzie Crook. “It’s not just been a job, like other films I’ve done. This is the `Pirates Period’ of my life, like my childhood, or youth. “It’s going to be like breaking up with your girlfriend,” said Martin Klebba incisively just before he wrapped his role. “There are no egos on set, everybody gets on together, and it’s a really nice working atmosphere,” adds Naomie Harris. “With all of the special effects and stunts, sometimes the shooting was really tough, but the nice thing is that everybody works together as a team and pulls together at those moments. It’s also nice to do a movie that my brother and sister, who are 11 and 7 years old, can to go see and enjoy with the rest of the family. That means more to me than breaking box office records.”

“Because I am a fan of the first and second `Pirate’ movies,” confesses Chow Yun-Fat, “working with Johnny, Geoffrey, Keira and Orlando was just like a little child walking in dreams. Working with them gave me great pleasure, and I was very, very happy.”

Adds Jack Davenport, “It’s been an odyssey, an experience that’s unrepeatable, the end of an era in terms of filmmaking. It has a kind of `Apocalypse Wow’ factor. I think my greatest treasure on this job has been watching the crew conquer the logistical and artistic demands. It’s beyond anything I’ve ever seen in any group of filmmakers in my life.”

Once again, the actors had nothing but praise for their fearless leader, director Gore Verbinski.

“I honestly don’t know how Gore is able to be upright after all that he’s done,” says Johnny Depp of his director. “Everything that he retains in his brain…it’s weird. The truth of the matter is that, as an actor, you could almost not read the script at all and just rely on Gore. He’d never steer you wrong. He knows exactly every point that needs to be made. He’s just a wizard. It’s shocking and mind-boggling what Gore is capable of.”

“Gore is one of the greatest directors I’ve ever worked with,” profers Bill Nighy, who should know after his long international career on both stage and screen. “Every actor on the film will tell you the same thing. Nothing gets past him in terms of the authenticity of performance, and Gore knows that no matter how many special effects, wonderful landscapes or ships, what it comes down to are two people communicating. Not only can he spot what’s wrong, but he can really help you. I just can’t say enough about him.”

“Gore never ceases to amaze me with the energy and focus that he has,” says Mackenzie Crook. “On this, which must be one of the most complicated film projects ever undertaken, to make two incredibly plot and character-driven movies simultaneously, so that some days we’d be doing a scene from `Dead Man’s Chest’ in the morning and a scene from `At World’s End’ in the afternoon, or vice versa, he at all times knows what comes immediately before and after the scene you’re shooting, and where you should be in the scene emotionally, even if you’ve forgotten…which I often did.”

“I would argue that the crew we had on these two movies, many of whom were on the first film as well, is the finest ever assembled in Hollywood,” says screenwriter Terry Rossio. “Everybody is A-list all the way.” Adds writing partner Ted Elliott, “And Gore is a superstar. He’s the heart and soul of the whole production. He has abilities that just seem almost impossible to see. I’ve never seen the right person be in the right place so profoundly as Gore on these films. His ability to multitask, to have expertise in the worlds of acting, screenwriting, cinematography, studio politics, is beyond the capabilities of normal men. The guy is an alien creature.”

“Gore wakes up every day as if it’s day one of shooting,” says executive producer Chad Oman. “So even if you’re 100, 200 days into the schedule, he’s just excited as if it’s the first. He’s running around the set like a kid, cheerleading everyone, trying to get the best out of the cast and crew. Gore’s as smart, if not the smartest, of all the people I’ve worked with in any field. And at the same time, he has a great artistic sensibility. Ted and Terry laid the foundations of the tone, and then it goes through Gore’s filter, with its very interesting intellectual and absurd sensibility.” Adds Mike Stenson, “Gore is absolutely a perfectionist. Any director who gets to that level of success has to have a kind of mini nuclear power plant inside of them that just keeps them going.

Adds first assistant director Dave Venghaus, “Gore brings an energy to the set that’s addictive. He wants the best, not only for the film, but from everybody. I’ve never seen Gore sit down. He’s involved in all aspects of filmmaking. He never runs and hides in his trailer, but is on set from the beginning to end of every day. He’s there in the mix, gets as wet as everyone else, gets as dirty as everyone else. He dives in, and expects you to keep up with him, to anticipate, and to give 200 percent.”

Everyone was also glad to have spent another large chunk of their lives in the world of a Jerry Bruckheimer film.

“Jerry is sort of the Great Protector,” explains Johnny Depp. “He wards off all and any evil spirits. And if anyone had anything really grave at stake in the beginning, it was Jerry. Talk about rolling the dice. I mean, for an actor, you come in, do your bit, and if works it works, and if it doesn’t it doesn’t, and it’s on to the next one. But Jerry really took a risk.”

Adds Orlando Bloom, “It’s funny, because Jerry Bruckheimer is huge, a gigantic force in the industry, but he’s also a mate, a really good guy with a wealth of work behind him, but just a man loving his work and loving life.” Says Lee Arenberg, “Jerry is the last true Hollywood producer/storyteller in that he allows his filmmakers to go for it. He’s like the best poker player in the world, who holds all the cards, but knows when to use them.”

“What’s great about Jerry is his calm,” says Eric McLeod. “I mean, a film like this is its own maelstrom, and Jerry is the calmest person on the set. He’s approachable, you can always go to him with problems. He’s been doing large films like this probably longer than anyone else in the history of film, and he has a world of experience in knowing how things work out in the end.”

Notes executive producer Mike Stenson, “Jerry is like a great NBA coach. He puts an all-star team together, pushes for the best from everybody, and calls the plays. Jerry tends to be more hands-on than most producers, which is why, when you look at his body of work over a 25 year period, there is a certain sensibility to it all.”

“It’s been quite a ride,” mused George Marshall Ruge. “It was an odd feeling to come to the end, because everybody became family, and we’ve poured a lot of emotion and soul into this project. On the one hand, there was relief, because at the pace and with the length of the shoot, we were eventually going to drop. But there’s also great sadness that we’re leaving our `Pirates home.’ Hopefully, we’ll be able to reunite many times over the years, and out paths will cross many times. So it was a time for reflection, proud of what we did, sad, happy, relieved and looking forward to reunions.”

“Jerry Bruckheimer came up to me at one point and said `It’s pretty big, isn’t it?’ And I said, `Yeah, it’s all downhill from here. And he said me, with a grin on his face, `That’s what they told me when I did `Beverly Hills Cop.’”

In the end, as Bruckheimer explains, it all comes down to the fundamentals of what brings people into a movie theatre, which has changed little despite the enormous leaps in technology from the time audiences stared wide-eyed at the Melies Brothers’ special effects spectacles at the turn of the 20th century, howled uproariously at the comic exploits of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, or sat at the edge of their seats at fantastic feats of derring-do by Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn.

“Our biggest challenge for `At World’s End’ is to entertain the audience,” says the producer, “and just make sure that they have a great time. The film is even more intricate than `The Curse of the Black Pearl’ and `Dead Man’s Chest.’ It has enormous battles, character turns, romance and humor. It’s what we all make movies for, and all of the elements of why people have gone to the movies for the past hundred years or so. We want to suck the audience into our magical world on that screen, take them to places they’ve never been before with characters they fall in love with…and in the end feel a little better than when they walked into the theatre.”

If Keira Knightley sometimes feels that she’s been on the high seas, filming Pirates of the Caribbean, for a long, long time, it’s easy to understand. Because she has.

Keira Knightley, along with the all-star line up from the first, hugely successful Pirates film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, have reunited with director Gore Verbinski to make Pirates 2, Dead Man’s Chest, out this summer, and Pirates 3, which we’ll see next year, virtually back to back.

“It felt like the last two years had never happened and we’ve been working on Pirates the entire time,” she notes. Not that she’s complaining. “We have got these fantastic sets, it’s pretty much exactly the same crew with a couple of additions, the same cast, same director, same writers, same producers obviously, so it really is like we never finished doing the first one and we have just continued.”

The first film, released in 2003, was a critical and box office triumph which starred Johnny Depp as lovable rogue Jack Sparrow, the colourful pirate who rescues the beautiful governor’s daughter, Elizabeth Swann – played by Keira – from the villainous Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and his cohorts. Add a dash of romance, provided by Orlando Bloom as Elizabeth’s love, Will Turner, and the result was a funny, superbly paced action thriller which entertained young and old alike.

Today, in an interview during a break on set at the Universal Studios in Hollywood, Keira is in Pirates 3 mode. Tomorrow, or the next day, it’s back to Pirates 2. Doesn’t it get confusing?

“Hugely, yes,” she laughs. “It is a bit weird at the moment coming to the end of the number three chunk to suddenly try and get your head back in to number two. So in a funny kind of way it seems like one big long film as opposed to two separate films, which I suppose is a good thing, but it is a little strange.”

Keira is sworn to secrecy to keep a good deal of the story under wraps but she’s convinced that Pirates 2 – and indeed 3 – is looking in fantastic shape. “The look of it is really cool and it seems to have evolved in a kind of natural way for it,” she says.

At just 21 years old, Knightley has established herself as one of the leading actresses working in Hollywood. She was born and raised on the outskirts of London, the daughter of actor Will Knightley and playwright Sharman Macdonald.

After roles on British television, Knightley won international acclaim for her role in Bend It Like Beckham. She also starred in Richard Curtis’s romantic comedy, Love Actually, played Guinevere in King Arthur and starred opposite Adrien Brody in The Jacket. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Pride and Prejudice and played a bounty hunter in Domino.

How is working on Pirates 2 and 3 compared to the first film?

It has been really weird actually because I can’t even remember where we started. I guess we started in February and it felt like the last two years had never happened and we have been working on Pirates of the Caribbean the entire time. (laughs) But it has been great. It’s a long haul, as I said, we started in February, we had about a month and a half on hiatus and then we are shooting until February or March (2006), so it is a big one. I have never done anything as long which makes it different, but the guys are great and it is pretty much all the same people and it’s nice, it’s good fun.

Have you kind of picked up where you left off from the first one?

Yes, pretty much. We have got theses fantastic sets, it’s pretty much exactly the same crew with a couple of additions, the same cast, same director, same writers, same producers obviously, so it really is like we never finished doing the first one and we have just continued.

What are you allowed to tell us a about what happens in Pirates two?

I don’t know! Absolutely nothing probably (laughs) I have two swords, that is all I am saying. It’s great. It’s just more really, maybe a little bit darker and we have some really fantastic fight scenes.

Have you done much training for the role?

We are doing a big fight scene in the (studio) at the moment which is one of the reasons why I am not working because it takes so bloody long (laughs) But yeah we have done a lot of that and it was good, I did a couple of weeks training at the beginning of filming but the stunt guys are great and again they were the same guys as on the first one so I had worked with them before. And I think we all picked it up pretty quick so it was just really good.

Did you insist on the fight scenes being put in the script?

I wouldn’t say insist, no, I don’t think you can insist on anything, but I did ask, yeah. I mean on the first one they kept asking what I wanted for my character and I kept on saying `I want a sword.’ and I never got one so in this one they gave me two, so I am very lucky (laughs).

What sort of costumes do you wear in this one? Are you back in the corsets?

Well we are doing Pirates 3 at the moment so I am in a kind of oriental type vibe thing with shorts – it’s the first time I have got legs out and it’s terrifying (laughs). Actually I am really glad, it’s so hot in there it is unbelievable, and everybody else has got their proper pirate stuff on and I am a little less dressed than everyone else and I am very glad, so that’s good. The rest of the time I’ve got kind of the Pirate look instead of the corset.

And do you prefer that rather than being strapped in?

I quite like corsets actually; it kind of gives you a character. You feel so ladylike but I kind of feel a little bit more like me now because I am in sort of boy’s attire. I am giving far too much away (laughs). Both are good.

You are shooting Pirates 2 and 3 at the same time. Isn’t that confusing?

Hugely, yes.

Can you tell us just a little bit about that?

Well before the hiatus we were really only doing number two. In fact I didn’t do anything for three so that was great. We are now doing three at the moment and for the next couple of days and then we’re swapping back to two. So it does get a bit confusing and trying to talk about it here and trying to separate both of them is even more confusing. But we have been doing it in chunks, it’s not like we have been doing one day on two, one day on three. Like the last three weeks we have been on number three and then the next month as soon as we get to the Bahamas we will be on number two and then we will go back to number three. So it hasn’t been too bad. But it is a bit weird at the moment coming to the end of the number three chunk to suddenly try and get your head back in to number two. So in a funny kind of way it seems like one big long film as opposed to two separate films, which I suppose is a good thing, but it is a little strange.

Do you enjoy the time you film in the Caribbean or do you prefer being here in LA?

I prefer being here in LA. We go to some very beautiful places and we go to some not so beautiful places, I think you do end up getting island fever and especially if you are going to touristy islands. They are great for a couple of weeks and you go `oh look there’s the beach, this is lovely.’ And then you go `OK, what else? I’ve done the beach, I’ve done the sea, I have read all my books, I can’t do anything else!’ So it gets a bit difficult but in saying that it is beautiful and there are definitely much worse places. But I’m enjoying being in LA – I am a city girl so I like cities.

Does your mum come out here with you?

She is out here with me at the moment.

Does she manage your career?

No she has never done that since I started actually. She’s a writer, so she writes. She really is only there to hand me a cup of coffee occasionally. And be a Mum (laughs) and tell me off!

You must be pleased with the critical reaction to Pride and Prejudice because it’s had some great reviews?

Has it? Good. I haven’t seen any of that. If I believed the good stuff, I would have to believe the bad stuff as well and neither of it is very helpful for me. But that’s good, that’s great to know. I like it. All the experiences that I have had so far have been absolutely amazing. And it is lovely to come back on to Pirates, with a film that is already established because there’s so much kind of excitement around it. But equally it is great to do things that are really a complete risk and you don’t know what the outcome is going to be.

A lot has happened in your career since the first Pirates film.

Yeah, I’ve got a bigger trailer! (laughs). That says a lot doesn’t it.

But does it feel like things have changed?

We made it in 2003 and yes stuff has changed. I mean I have been working non-stop for one thing, so that’s changed. But to tell you the truth the banter on set is exactly the same, so that hasn’t changed. You are working with the same people and it doesn’t matter if you have done a lot of films in between or not, they are going to treat you the same as they did. And know, that’s cool, that’s the way it should be. So the work hasn’t changed but the trailer has (laughs).

Do you have a personal assistant these days?

I do, he is over there.

You said in the past you didn’t want to get one because you are old enough to handle life yourself.

No I said I didn’t want to get one because I wasn’t old enough to handle my life and I wanted to learn how to. The answer to that is that I only have him when I am working. I don’t have him when I am not working, but it gets to the point if you are working back to back and you don’t have any days off. I have bought a flat, I have done stuff, I have got movies coming out at the moment, I can’t be on the phone all the time trying to co-ordinate everything and be doing my job in there. So I have got somebody who can co-ordinate stuff and so I don’t have to think about that he can just say `right go in this direction…

But how do you keep in touch with real life if you are making movies all the time?

This is my real life. I don’t know what’s going on in your real life, I am sorry, but yes, I know what’s going on in mine.

Real life, meaning like what’s happening in politics, in the world.

Yes, some of it. I read newspapers if that’s what you mean, I don’t watch television, but yes, I think so. I have been waiting around in my trailer for hours so I have got to do something.

What else did you do when you had time off in The Bahamas?

I read a good biography on Lucrezia Borgia, I read a good book Hitler’s Bunker. I read a lot of scripts.

How do you choose a film?

I don’t know, it’s just whatever catches my fancy. If it is a film I think I would want to see and then that’s kind of a good way to judge it. And if you meet the director and you like them then that’s even a better way to judge it. But it just depends. I don’t pick it by genre, if I read a good comedy and I go `oh yeah, I’d really like to be a part of that..’ but equally it could be a drama. I don’t really have a plan; it’s just what jumps out at me.

Is there a sense that because the first Pirates was such a big hit that you have to match it or better it this time?

For me personally, no. I mean I think there is a certain amount of pressure because it was so loved and you kind of want to make it as good as you possibly can. But I think that is really the same with any film. What’s nice is the level of excitement around Pirates is huge and normally there isn’t that bigger level of excitement around anything you do until it comes out. But it’s quite nice to be in something where people go `so come on, what’s going to happen? Tell us what’s going to happen?’

But has the next installment lived up to your own expectations?

So far yes, absolutely. These are the sort of films where you read it on the page and you can’t imagine what it is going to be like on the screen. I mean it was like the first one, none of us knew what it was going to be like. And in a funny kind of way it really is exactly the same because with this. I can say `yeah it was a great script..’ But I can’t imagine what the finished product will be like. I think it is going to be great. I mean from what I have done, I haven’t seen anything, but from what I have done it seems cool, the look of it is really cool and it seems to have evolved in a kind of natural way for it,. There are so many pirate stories, you know, you are bound to find a good one! (laughs) So it’s a really exciting but I don’t know what it will be like.

Any plans for after Pirates has finished?

I cannot imagine finishing this. I just can’t. I mean I don’t think we are even half way through yet, well just half way, so no. I’ve started to read a couple of scripts, but I can’t get my head around them yet. So no, no clue.

Do you plan or do you think about doing it more serious roles like Domino?

I didn’t think Domino is that serious a drama, really. I think the whole point of acting is to change as much as possible, if you are not changing then I don’t think it would be fun. So yeah, of course I would want to change. If it is a drama or if it is comedy, I don’t know, but hopefully all of them, I’m a film fan so I like all genres. Apart from horror because I am scared of it, so I don’t imagine myself doing a horror film. But apart from that I like all of it, so who knows?

What’s it like acting alongside Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom?

It’s amazing, I mean, they are very beautiful. (laughs) Yes it is very easy on the eye. And they are really great as well, they are lovely and watching Johnny work, you know it’s masterful really, it’s taking an acting master class, so that’s always enjoyable. And Orlando I have known for a very long time. We used to go up to things in London together so it’s really nice you know to spend time with him as well. He’s my mate, which is nice.

On the path to Hollywood glory, Johnny Depp veered off course. So how did he tame his wild ways to become one of the world’s most bankable leading men?

On a recent summer afternoon, Johnny Depp walks into a luxury suite at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. Oddly, he is dressed like a pirate. A faded paisley do-rag is tied around his head. Smaller strips of cloth are braided into his hair, and he has gold caps on several teeth. His loose white T-shirt, with its blue horizontal stripes, may be more sailor than pirate, but it’s definitely in the nautical family.

We should note that Depp has not come directly from the set of his latest film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, where he will reprise the role of flamboyant pirate captain Jack Sparrow. Nor has he come from the cover shoot for this magazine. When I mention this fact to Gore Verbinski, the director of both Pirates movies and a third installment already in the works, he professes no surprise. “That’s the Johnny I know,” Verbinski tells me. “He’s always half-Jack.” Depp says, “With all of my characters, it’s just depressing to leave them. With Captain Jack, when we finished shooting the first movie, I had a feeling I’d see him again. I didn’t feel like I was saying goodbye. By the end of the third movie, I’m sure that’s going to be a different story. But it’s always really hard.”

At forty-three, Depp seems little changed by time. His face remains boyish. And he still appears uncomfortable in the spotlight. He speaks in a low voice, and even when he laughs, and his eyes light up in a manner suggesting a love of mischief, his tone remains cautious, his body language reserved.

Depp never wanted to be a movie star. Acting gigs, early on, were just day jobs, taken for rent money, while he tried to get a deal for his band. Depp’s looks make his success in Hollywood seem inevitable. Yet there was no obvious predictor for Depp to enjoy the specific type of success he’s pulled off. It’s a great story: Former teen idol rebels against the Hollywood star system and transforms himself into one of the most daring and eccentric screen actors of his generation.

Early on, it seemed as if Depp had a knack for picking smart, offbeat projects. For his first major starring role, in the 1990 John Waters juvenile-delinquent spoof Cry-Baby, Depp mocked his heartthrob status by playing an over-the-top version of one. Since then, he has generally played outsiders: Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Hunter S. Thompson alter ego Raoul Duke.

More recently, Depp has proved that he can pick potentially awful films and, with the sheer oddity of his performances, make them not only watchable but sometimes great. There was Robert Rodriguez’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico, a cartoonishly violent El Mariachi retread redeemed by Depp’s sly, hilarious turn as a corrupt, oft-disguised CIA agent. There was also last year’s entirely unnecessary Tim Burton remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, again made sort of awesome by Depp, who played Willy Wonka with a creepy vacancy that recalled another glove-wearing lover of children. (“Michael Jackson never entered my brain,” Depp insists. “I was thinking more of Howard Hughes, or Brian Wilson when he installed a sandbox in his house.”)

And most impressively there was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, a Jerry Bruckheimer summer 2003 blockbuster based on a ride at Disneyland. There was no good reason for this film not to suck. And yet, Depp, giddily channeling Keith Richards, stole the movie from romantic leads Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley and conquered all skeptics with a brilliant, swaggering performance. The film went on to gross $653 million, and this summer’s follow-up — amazingly, Depp’s first-ever sequel — has already been anointed a box-office sure thing. Depp has reportedly earned $20 million apiece for the two Pirates sequels.

“Somebody asked me the other day how this character is different from others Johnny has played,” Verbinski says. “He’s always played against type ? that’s been his thing, the way he’s escaped being typecast as a good-looking leading man. He’s always Bud Cort, never Clint Eastwood. There’s always an internalization, where he’s standing back and watching things. But with Jack Sparrow, he’s a guy who’s a braggart, who makes the big speech, who can go with the grain. And so you get this virtuoso performance.”

These days, Depp and his family — his longtime companion, the French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis, 33, and their two children, Lily-Rose, 7, and Jack, 4 — continue to divide their time between the South of France and Los Angeles, though they’ve been mainly living in L.A. since February 2005, when filming of the second Pirates movie began. Pirates of the Caribbean III, due out next year, will begin filming in August, with a promised appearance by Richards himself, already nicely recovered, thank you, after falling out of a coconut tree in Fiji and undergoing surgery for a head injury. Says Depp, “I didn’t have to talk him into it. I said, ‘It’s up to you, but I think we could have a ball.’”

Have you been in touch with Keith?

Not directly, but with his camp. He’s fine. He’s…

Indestructible?

Yeah. A piece of machinery.

Have you known him for a while?

We met probably in ’94 or ’95. Obviously, for anyone who ever touched a guitar, Keith is one of your gods.

Have you played music around him?

No. I don’t have the kind of hair that would allow me to pick up a guitar and start strumming. I’ve never been that confident — or drunk. I just couldn’t do it. Unless he asked me to. Then maybe.

I’m wondering what you thought when you heard the pitch for “Pirates.” Because in theory it sounds like a terrible idea.

Theoretically, you’re right. It has all the markings of a nightmare.

So what made you take the chance?

Absolutely nothing, just gut instinct. I was in a meeting with Disney. They had offered me this other film, and I was turning it down. But my daughter, she was about three then, and I’d watched every single animated Disney hoo-ha that existed. I’d gotten quite close to these movies and enjoyed the fact that these cartoon characters were without limits. So I was telling them how much I’d like to do a voice for a kiddie film, and they said, “Are you familiar with the theme park and rides? Well, we’re thinking of doing Pirates of the Caribbean as a film.” And I said, “I’m in.” Just like that, immediately. My agent was sitting there, and she was really shocked. I was a little shocked myself.

It seems like an unusual move for you, because you’ve chosen such nonmainstream movies over the years.

I don’t know why I said yes. I didn’t think, “I must do a commercial movie.” I’ve never been the guy who can predict, “This fucker’s going to go through the roof” or “This one will take a giant dump.” And up until halfway through round nine, everyone, including Disney, was thinking, “This is going to be a huge flop.” Later, when they were telling me I had to approve my image on cereal boxes, I still never felt compromised. It wasn’t like selling out to me. It was like I had infiltrated the enemy camp and stuck my flag in, and now it’s taken root and you’re on the ride, so let’s see where it goes. Friends of mine were going, “Jesus, man, isn’t that a little mortifying?” And I said, “Fuck, no! I think it’s great. It’s funny to me.”

Did you have a special affinity for pirates?

Well, I picked up all kinds of books to prepare. Research is at least half the fun. It’s like studying for a history exam. The nutrition onboard those ships, that was a real eye-opener. They’d eat by candlelight, below deck, and be so sickened by the food that they’d blow out the candles so they didn’t have to see the maggots. Pirate ships were kind of floating prisons, really. I started getting into that whole era, beyond just pirates.

Did you use specific things you learned in playing Jack Sparrow?

One moment where a bit of my research came in unbelievably handy, we were shooting the last frames of Pirates I, and we were trying to come up with a closing line. None of us were happy with what we had. The line needed to mean a lot to Jack. And I remembered a passage from a book I read by a French sailor, where he talked about the idea of why you keep going as a sailor: It’s because the horizon is always there. You want to get to it, but you never will. It’s all about the unattainable.

What was the final line?

[Thinks for a moment, then speaks in Captain Jack's voice] “Now bring on that horizon.” It said it all for me.

When people talk about your portrayal of Jack Sparrow, they generally mention Keith but also point out a certain gay undercurrent.

Well, there was a great book I read… What was it called? Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition. A very interesting book. I wasn’t exactly going for that with the character. And Keith is not flamboyant in his actions. Keith is pretty stealth. But with Jack, it was more that I liked the idea of being ambiguous, of taking this character and making everything a little bit… questionable. Because women were thought to be bad luck on ships. And these pirates would go out for years at a time. So, you know, there is a possibility that one thing might lead to another.

Could happen.

You’re lonely. You have an extra ration of rum. [Shrugs] “Cabin boy!”

Two weeks later, I meet producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Pirates editor Stephen Rivkin on the Disney lot in Burbank to view an hour’s worth of scenes from the movie. No one but Bruckheimer and the editors have seen the completed film yet, not even Depp, who, when I ask, says, “No way!” and then adds, “I hem and haw and am adamant about not seeing the films I make. And sometimes you get away with it. With Pirates, I don’t know that there’s any escape route. But it’ll be OK.” Then he adds, “Or it won’t.”

Bruckheimer, though often derided as a producer of vacuous blockbusters, seems genuinely passionate about this film. Every time Rivkin clicks a button on his computer to skip ahead to another scene, Bruckheimer patiently turns to me and explains what I’m missing, saying things like “Now, Bootstrap Bill is Orlando’s father.”

For fans of the first Pirates movie — which, based on my own polling, seems to include just about everyone who has seen it — the sequel promises more of the same. A ship is destroyed by giant tentacles. Depp is hogtied by primitive islanders and hung, rotisserie-style, over a bonfire. An elaborate three-way sword fight moves from beach to graveyard to the top of a spinning-mill wheel. Depp shoots an undead monkey and says, “Top that.” An unburied treasure chest contains a still-beating heart, and the owner of the heart, a hideous squid-faced monster, wants it back.

At the Chateau, Depp picks at some fruit but otherwise does not touch the spread of food laid out for our interview. Prior to our meeting, my friends made various predictions as to what Depp would be like. People guess that he will drink copious amounts of wine (he does not, but it is three in the afternoon), or that he will be quite short in person (again, sorry, no), or that he will chain-smoke (true, this one: uneven hand-rolled cigarettes the color of dark chocolate).

Depp moved to Los Angeles from Florida, where he spent most of his childhood, when he was twenty. At the time, he had a wife (Lori Anne Allison; they divorced in 1985) and a band, and his only dream was to play rock & roll — as a guitarist, not a frontman. “I never wanted to be the lead singer,” he says. “Never wanted that kind of attention.” Depp pauses to consider this.

“Weird,” he finally adds.

I’d imagine you get to meet a lot of your musical heroes. Is it usually backstage at a show?

The circumstances are always a little different. Like, I met Iggy Pop for the first time when I was seventeen years old and my band opened up for him in Gainesville, Florida. I wanted to meet him, but I didn’t want to meet him. I didn’t want to be one of those guys that just went up and said, “I really like your music.” And I was slightly inebriated at that point, so I started yelling obscenities in his direction. And he walked over to me and got about an eighth of an inch from my face and just looked at me and said, “You little turd.” That was it. And I was happy.

That’s a great encounter.

I was satisfied. Because I’d had an interesting moment with him. I met him again when we did Cry-Baby.

Did you tell him you’d met before?

Yeah, I asked him if he remembered, and he said, “No, man, I was probably in worse shape than you at the time.”

How serious were you about music when you were that age?

I was convinced that was it. I was still convinced after I’d done a few movies.

How old were you when you got a guitar?

Twelve. I had an uncle who was a preacher, and he played. I used to watch him. He was a real preacher-preacher — hellfire, damnation, that kind of thing. Then I started listening to the Doors, the Stones, the Beatles, Aerosmith. Then the Clash hit, and it was like, “OK.” My first guitar was a real cheap little electric thing my mom bought me for twenty-five bucks. From then on I don’t remember puberty, I was just playing guitar.

What was the first song you learned?

Well, at that point you’re working with one string, so like everybody else’s first song, mine was either “25 or 6 to 4,” by Chicago, or “Smoke on the Water.” I worked my way up to “Stairway to Heaven.” At sixteen or seventeen we were on the road.

Your mom was cool with that?

She was OK with it. I had dropped out of school . . . like a dumbass. The music was so important to me, I felt a sanctuary in it, a real safety, and in school, I didn’t.

Is there a show that stands out?

We opened for Chuck Berry once, in Atlanta. Back then, the majority of the time, he didn’t have a regular touring band. He’d just show up in a town and there would be a band there, local guys. I think he assumed that we were his band, so he walked into our dressing room, put his guitar down — I was dumbstruck. I was seventeen. He plops back, looks at me and says, “What’s the matter, young blood?” I said, “Nothing, nothing.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him his dressing room was upstairs. Then he asked if we’d tune his guitar. So we got that fuckin’ red 335 and tuned it up. A bunch of kids.

How would you describe your sound?

It was sort of punkish, poppy, I guess. The sound was somewhere between the Clash and U2. We played with the Pretenders, the Ramones, R.E.M.

Did you come close to getting a record deal?

We were kind of close when we finally moved out here, when I was twenty. But it was just lean times. We tried doing these straight gigs — like selling ink pens over the telephone. The whole band worked at that place. Then the movies thing came up.

Just purely to make some money.

Yeah. Nic Cage was an acquaintance. He’d done Valley Girl, things like that. I was filling out job applications — video stores, whatever. Nic said, “I think you should meet my agent.” She sent me to read for a casting director for Wes Craven, and they hired me to do Nightmare on Elm Street.

Did your music friends give you shit?

Oh, yeah. But then while I was doing the movie, the band broke up. So I continued going to auditions. It was really just a way to pay the bills until the band and I got back together, or I got another band. Then there was a point, maybe a couple of years in, when I said, “You know what? It seems like acting is the avenue I’m going down, so I should probably investigate what it’s all about.” I wasn’t a movie buff by any stretch of the imagination. I never took acting seriously — I still don’t — but I started to consider ways to do it, to develop a process.

Did the acting scene seem kind of square, coming from the music scene?

Oh, yeah. Ambition was rampant. The fucked-up thing for me is that you’d come into a room for an audition, and it was wall-to-wall ass. You’d see a guy in the corner going, “Oh, fuck you, you son of a bitch,” rehearsing. And I felt like an absolute dick.

Being one of those people?

Being one of them. I just hated it.

Although maybe your not giving a fuck made you seem far more confident.

It was very helpful. I don’t know if I was ever confident. I was more uncomfortable than anything else.

Did you ever make any rock & roll guy faux pas in the acting world?

No, but I remember when I did Nightmare on Elm Street, there was a scene where I had to take off my shirt and they saw my Indian tattoo — it was 1984, and they were like, “He’s got a tattoo! This kid’s got a tattoo!” They were really freaked out by it. They said, “Could you lie on your other side?” It’s funny now, thinking back on that, how it was a real shock to them. Now, everybody and their mother and their goldfish is inked.