Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 American fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Rob Marshall. It is the first film in the series not to be directed by Gore Verbinski. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, the film is suggested by the 1987 novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers as a standalone sequel to At World's End (2007) and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. The film stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, and Kevin R. McNally, who reprise their roles from the previous films, alongside Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Sam Claflin and Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey. The story follows the eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) forced into a shaky alliance with Angelica (Cruz), a mysterious woman from his past, as they embark on a quest for the Fountain of Youth. Jack is forced aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, contends with the infamous pirate Blackbeard (McShane), and enters an uneasy alliance with rival Hector Barbossa (Rush).
"Pirates 4" redirects here. For the 3D short film, see Pirates 4-D. For the soundtrack, see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (soundtrack).Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- David Brenner
- Wyatt Smith
- May 7, 2011 (Disneyland Resort)
- May 20, 2011 (United States)
137 minutes[1]
United States
English
- $410.6 million (gross)
- $378.5 million (net)[2]
$1.046 billion[3]
On Stranger Tides was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. During the back-to-back production of Dead Man's Chest (2006) and At World's End, writers Elliott and Rossio first learned of Powers' novel and considered it a good starting point for a new film in the series. Pre-production started after the end of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, with Depp collaborating with the writers on the story design. Principal photography lasted for 106 days between June and November 2010, with locations in Hawaii, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico and California. Filming employed 3D cameras similar to those used in the production of the 2009 film Avatar, and ten companies were involved with the film's visual effects. Following inflated production costs which ballooned the net budget to $379 million, the film was the most expensive film ever made at the time of its release.
On Stranger Tides was released in the United States on May 20, 2011. The film broke many box office records and was the third highest-grossing film of 2011. A fifth film, titled Dead Men Tell No Tales, was released in May 2017.
Plot[edit]
In 1750, a man rescued from the ocean is brought to King Ferdinand of Spain, where he claims to have sailed with Ponce de León, who died 200 years earlier searching for the Fountain of Youth. Years after Captain Jack Sparrow lost the Black Pearl to Hector Barbossa and acquired Sao Feng's map to find the Fountain,[N 1] Jack rescues his first mate, Joshamee Gibbs, from execution in London, only to get captured. Gibbs takes Jack's map, while Jack himself is brought before King George II, who wants him to guide an expedition to the Fountain before King Ferdinand's Spanish Armada can locate it. Barbossa, now sporting a peg leg and having lost the Pearl, joins the expedition as a privateer. Jack escapes, leading Barbossa to later recruit Gibbs, who memorizes Jack's map before burning it, and they set sail aboard the HMS Providence.
Captain Teague, Jack's father, tells Sparrow that the Profane Ritual is required to use the Fountain. Jack also hears of another Jack Sparrow recruiting a crew. The impostor is Angelica, Jack's former lover and daughter of Blackbeard, who shanghais Jack into service aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge. Amongst the crew are zombie officers and Philip Swift, a captured missionary. Blackbeard practices voodoo magic as a brujo[4] and wants to find the Fountain to avoid a prophesied death by a one-legged man. Although Jack incites the human crew to mutiny against the zombies, Blackbeard subdues the mutineers with a sword that allows him to control ships. Jack learns from Angelica that the ritual for the Fountain requires a mermaid's tear and two silver chalices located on Ponce de León's ship, the Santiago. Both chalices get water from the Fountain, and the person who drinks the water with the tear gets all the years of life from the other. Angelica also shows Jack Blackbeard's collection of captured, miniaturized ships in bottles, including the Black Pearl.
The Revenge sails to Whitecap Bay, where Blackbeard's crew captures the mermaid Syrena. Barbossa, Gibbs, and some of the British crew continue on foot after the Providence is attacked by mermaids. Syrena's tail becomes legs after being out of water; seeing that she cannot walk, Philip offers to carry Syrena. After their newfound love is used to extract the mermaid's tear, Syrena is left to die. Blackbeard sends Jack to get the chalices, taking the latter's magic compass. Jack and Barbossa meet on the Santiago, but find the chalices have been taken by the Spanish. Before retrieving the chalices, Barbossa reveals his true agenda: a desire for revenge against Blackbeard, detailing the attack on the Black Pearl, which Barbossa truly believes to be sunk,[a] which led to cutting off his leg via self-dismemberment. Jack returns to Blackbeard, giving him the chalices in exchange for Jack's compass, which Jack sends off with Gibbs.
All parties locate the Fountain of Youth, which leads to a battle, in which Barbossa stabs Blackbeard with a poisoned sword. Angelica cuts her hand on the poisoned blade. The Spanish throw the chalices into a deep pool and destroy the Fountain, believing it as an abomination against God. In the chaos, Philip frees Syrena, who gives the chalices to Jack. Filling the chalices with the remaining drops of water from the Fountain, adding Syrena's tear, Jack tricks Blackbeard into drinking the chalice lacking the tear. Angelica is healed, whilst Blackbeard dies. Syrena returns to an injured Philip and, after she forgives him, they kiss and return underwater.[b]
Barbossa claims Blackbeard's ship, crew, and sword for his own, and returns to a life of piracy. Meanwhile, Jack maroons Angelica on a cay, unsure if he can trust her. Jack reunites with Gibbs, who uses the compass to locate the Revenge and retrieve the Black Pearl in a bottle. As they figure out how to get the Pearl out, Jack tells Gibbs he's determined to continue living the pirate's life. In the tag--a post-credits scene--a voodoo doll of Jack created by Blackbeard washes ashore to Angelica, who smiles.
Keith Richards appears as Captain Teague, legendary pirate and Jack Sparrow's father, reprising his role from At World's End. Damian O'Hare reprises his role as Lieutenant Gillette from The Curse of the Black Pearl. King George's ministers include Roger Allam as Prime Minister Henry Pelham and Anton Lesser as Lord John Carteret. Other Spanish characters include Sebastian Armesto as King Ferdinand, Juan Carlos Vellido as a Spanish captain. Judi Dench has a cameo as a society lady who encounters Jack Sparrow in a carriage.
Production[edit]
Development[edit]
Shortly before the premiere of At World's End, Jerry Bruckheimer stated it was the end of the trilogy, but the idea of a spin-off was still possible.[11] After the film's successful opening weekend, Dick Cook, then Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, said he was interested in a fourth installment. Los Angeles Times also reported that rights to a book were bought.[12] Johnny Depp was expected to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio had started working on a script in 2007, but they were interrupted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, and only resumed in mid-2008.[13]
In June 2009, Bruckheimer indicated Disney would prefer the fourth installment of Pirates to be released before The Lone Ranger film, which was being worked on for release in the summer of 2010. He hoped original Pirates director Gore Verbinski would return for the fourth film, as his BioShock film adaptation had been put on hold.[14] As Verbinski was unavailable due to his commitment with Rango the same year, Bruckheimer suggested Rob Marshall, whom he considered a "premiere filmmaker", stating that "Every film [Marshall] made I thought was unique and different."[15] On July 21, 2009, Marshall accepted the job, because of the "whole new story line and set of characters. It felt new, and that was important to me."[13] Marshall's involvement wasn't reported until August.[16] Marshall said the film provided him a long-awaited opportunity to work with Depp, and that his directing was helped by his experience as a choreographer—"the action sequences felt like big production numbers."[17] "I really had one criteria for signing on. And that was a story I could actually follow."[18]
On September 11, 2009, at Disney's D23 convention during a Disney event, Cook and Johnny Depp, in full Captain Jack Sparrow costume, announced that a fourth Pirates film was in development for a summer 2011 release. The title was announced as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,[19] later revealed to have been taken from Tim Powers's 1987 novel On Stranger Tides.[15] Cook resigned in September 2009 after working for Disney for over 38 years.[20] Depp's faith in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was somewhat shaken after the resignation, with Depp explaining that "There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment. It was all born in that office".[21] Depp also explained Cook was one of the few who accepted his portrayal of Jack Sparrow: "When things went a little sideways on the first Pirates movie and others at the studio were less than enthusiastic about my interpretation of the character, Dick was there from the first moment. He trusted me".[21] Regardless, on January 6, 2010, Disney announced that the film would be released on May 20, 2011.[22]
Director Rob Marshall visited the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland for inspiration, eventually paying homage with a skeleton holding a magnifying glass in Ponce de León's ship. Another ride reference scene featuring "Old Bill", the pirate who tries to share his rum with a cat, was also filmed but cut.[23] Pintel and Ragetti were originally supposed to make an appearance, but director Rob Marshall opted out of the idea as he feared their roles would be cut.[24]
Writing[edit]
During the production of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio discovered Tim Powers's 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, which they considered a good foundation on which to base "a new chapter" in the Pirates series.[15] Disney bought the rights to the novel in April 2007.[25] In 2009, after the announcement of the film's title, which led to speculation in regards to his book, Powers insisted that Jack Sparrow and his book's main character Jack Shandy "are totally different characters" but that it was possible that "they might overlap" Blackbeard and Barbossa, though felt certain the Fountain of Youth was the only thing they would hold on to due to the film's ending.[26] Rossio stated that he and Elliot had considered using Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth in the story before reading the book, "but whenever you say those words, Powers's novel comes to mind. There was no way we could work in that field without going into territory Tim had explored." However, they denied that it would be a straight version of the novel: "Blackbeard came from the book, and in the book, there is a daughter character, too. But Jack Sparrow is not in the book, nor is Barbossa. So I wouldn't call this an adaptation."[13] Rossio declared the script was written to be a standalone film, "kind of a James Bond sort of thing", instead of the "designed to be a trilogy" structure of the previous installments.[27] They hoped to "design a story that would support new characters," knowing that previous arcs were over.[28] Bruckheimer added that there was a decision to "streamline the story a little bit, make it a little simpler and not have as many characters to follow", as the number of characters and subplots in At World's End caused the film to have an unwieldy length.[15] The duo decided to employ another sea myth alluded to in the previous episodes: mermaids,[27] which are briefly referenced as "suck-you-byes, female demons that weirdly and erotically occupied the last hours of men marooned on barren islands" in the fourth chapter of the book. The mermaids' role expanded in the film's script, which included a vast attack sequence.[28]
Depp was deeply involved with the story design, frequently meeting the writers to show what he was interested in doing, and in the words of Rossio, being "involved in coming up with storylines, connecting characters, creating moments that we would then fashion, shape and then go back."[27] Among Depp's suggestions were turning Philip into a missionary and having a Spanish contingent following the protagonists.[29] Afterwards, Rob Marshall and executive producer John DeLuca met Rossio and Elliot and did alterations of their own, including building the female lead.[28]
Marketing[edit]
Disney's marketing president, MT Carney, said that the film's advertising campaign was intended "to remind people of why they fell in love with Jack Sparrow in the first place and also introduce new elements in a way that was elegant".[28] Sony Pictures' former marketing president, Valerie Van Galder, was hired as a consultant.[78] In the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con, footage of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow was shown as a "Comic-Con Greeting" while also telling fans what to "possibly" expect in the upcoming film.[79] The footage would later be uploaded on Jerry Bruckheimer Films's YouTube channel,[80] as well as being featured in later features and the UK trailer for the film. The first behind-the-scenes footage from the film appeared on Entertainment Tonight on December 4, 2010.[81] Three trailers were released,[28] one in December, which had a 3D version included with the release of Tron: Legacy[82] and broadcast by ESPN 3D;[83] a Super Bowl XLV spot in February 2011, which was later released online in an extended version;[84] and a final trailer in March that focused more on the plot than the previous trailer and commercials.[85]
Promotional tie-ins included Lego Pirates of the Caribbean toy sets and a related video game,[86][87] a cell phone app by Verizon Wireless,[88] a special edition of Pirate's Booty,[89] lines of nail polish by OPI,[90] clothing from Hot Topic,[91] and jewelry from Swarovski.[92] Goldline International produced replicas of the "Pieces of Eight" coins from the movies and gold Mexican Escudo coins, which were given in sweepstakes at the El Capitan Theatre.[93] At Disney California Adventure Park, the Pirates of the Caribbean segment of the World of Color show was extended to include visual clips and music from On Stranger Tides.[94]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
On Stranger Tides earned $241.1 million in North America and $804.6 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $1.045 billion.[113] It is the third-highest-grossing film of 2011 and the second most successful installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series.[114][115] On its worldwide opening weekend, it grossed $350.6 million, surpassing At World's End's $344 million opening as best in the series and ranking as the seventh-highest worldwide opening.[116] It scored an IMAX worldwide opening-weekend record with $16.7 million[117] (first surpassed by Transformers: Dark of the Moon).[118]
It set records for the least time to reach $500, $600, and $700 million worldwide (in 10, 12 and 16 days, respectively).[119][120][121] The first of these records was first surpassed by Dark of the Moon[122] and the other two by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.[123] After 46 days in theaters (July 2, 2011), it became the eighth film in cinema history and the fourth film released by Walt Disney Studios to cross the $1-billion-mark.[124] It set a record for the fastest Disney-distributed film to reach the milestone (first surpassed by Marvel's The Avengers)[125] and it is the fifth-fastest film overall to achieve this.[126]