There was a time, not so long ago, when there was nothing in the world so popular at the movies as Johnny Depp wearing a funny hat. His success at doing this in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl led to three additional films in the franchise. Two that co-starred Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly, and another that replaced them with Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz. While the less than warm reception received by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides left us all wondering if we'd ever see more from these pirates. As it turns out, the answer is yes. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is on its way, and slightly sooner than expected. Here's everything we know about the next adventure of Jack Sparrow and company. Let's get started by looking at what we've seen from the new movie.
See? Aren't you intrigued now? Well, let's get into what we know so far about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
What Is The Pirates 5 Release Date?
While originally planned to be released as early as the summer of 2015, production delays pushed the film back to the summer of 2017. Originally, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales was set for a July 7, 2017 release, which would have put it in line with the first two entries in the series. However, after the decision to delay Star Wars: Episode VIII into December, Pirates 5 was moved up to take over the May 26, 2017 date being left vacant.
This will give Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 nearly a month to shine before Disney releases another major film. However, following the Memorial Day Weekend competition will get stiffer. Warner Bros. Wonder Woman will be released the following Friday.
What Is The Pirates 5 Rating?
While no rating has been given to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the entire franchise so far has received a PG-13 rating, so we can be pretty confident that the new film will be as well. If it was going to slide in one direction or the other it would be much more likely to go PG. This is a popular Disney franchise after all. This will put the movie in competition with the rest of the summer PG-13 films, which will be plentiful.
What Is Pirates 5 About?
Between the news that's been released officially and the bit we've seen from the first teaser trailer, there appear to be a few different plot threads that will weave together to build the story of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Captain Salazar is a pirate who has just escaped from the Devil's Triangle and is on the hunt for one Captain Jack Sparrow. As we saw in the trailer, Salazar tells a young man to find Jack Sparrow and inform him that death is coming for him.
The young man in question, is actually Henry Turner, the grown son of Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner, the character's played by Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom in the first three films. Henry is looking for his father, who one assumes has been living all this time as Davy Jones.
Jack Sparrow, for his part, is in search of the Trident of Poseidon as a weapon to fend off Salazar, which causes him to cross paths with a woman named Carina Smyth who is also on a quest for the trident. Together they go in search of the artifact that will give its owner complete control of the seas.
What's The Importance of the Stars?
Stellar navigation was a normal thing for ships at sea during the era of piracy. However, the stars appear to be of a singular importance in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. In the film's trailer, we get a shot of a specific constellation, followed by the same constellation appearing on the skull and cross bones logo for the movie. The constellation would appear to reference the Trident of Poseidon that will apparently be the movie's big MacGuffin, though exactly how the stars themselves will play into the story is not known.
Captain Jack Sparrow
It just wouldn't be a Pirates of the Caribbean movie without Captain Jack Sparrow. His off the wall, Keith Richards-inspired portrayal of the buccaneer was the thing that drove the franchise even though the original trilogy of films wasn't really about him. Pirates 4 shifted him to a starring role, but, if anything, it would seem we like our Jack Sparrow in smaller doses. Based on the fact that Jack Sparrow is referenced, but never seen in the first teaser trailer, it would seem that Sparrow is back in a supporting or co-lead sort of role. This is probably for the best, right?
Henry Turner
Brenton Thwaites, recently of Gods of Egypt, plays the role that is officially only known as Henry, but Thwaites has seemingly confirmed that the role is that of Henry Turner, the son conceived at the end of, and briefly seen as a boy in the post-credits sequence for, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Henry is on a quest to find his father, Will Turner, and break the curse that he set upon himself that turned him into Davy Jones, the captain of the boat that ferries the dead to the afterlife. The trailer for the new film shows Henry on board a ship that is full of Caribbean colonial soldiers, before Captain Salazar's ghostly crew takes them all down. We see Henry apparently imprisoned on board the ship. At this point, we have no idea what led him to such a predicament, although Henry is apparently part of the Royal Navy, so it looks like they had to throw him in the brig for some reason.
Captain Salazar
Javier Bardem joins the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as the villainous Captain Salazar. We know that the Captain and his crew begin to wreak havoc after the escape from the Devil's Triangle. Since we also know that Salazar has it out for Captain Jack Sparrow and, apparently, all other pirates as well, we can only assume that Jack played a role in getting them all trapped there in the first place. Though exactly how remains to be seen.
Carina Smyth
Kaya Scodelario will play the female lead in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. We know that she's an astronomer who is fighting to be admitted to university, which, of course, she can't get into because this is seventeen hundreds and she's a woman. Somehow, this leads her into a quest for the Trident of Poseidon, we would guess in an attempt to prove its existence and earn her spot at school. She also has some sort of diary full of clues that will lead her and Jack Sparrow to the trident. This makes the story sound a little Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but it's not like that's a bad thing.
Will Turner/Davy Jones
While Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa were the only characters to survive into the fourth installment of the franchise, Orlando Bloom is on board to reprise his role as Will Turner/Davy Jones. When last we left poor William he nearly died, but was "saved" thanks to the curse that turned him into Davy Jones. Orlando Bloom is confirmed to return in the new film, and, until recently, the size of his role was anybody's guess. During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Bloom admitted that his work in the new film basically serves to "bookend it." Obviously, this sounds a lot like we can expect to see some Will Turner only at the beginning and end of the film. We don't have a problem seeing more from him than this, but the film seems to have a lot going on already, and saving him for these small appearances might not be a bad idea.
The Ghost Pirates
Captain Salazar is leading an entire army of ghost pirates. In the trailer, they're able to walk right through solid objects, something that even the undead crew of Captain Barbossa couldn't do. We don't know whether they were all ghosts going into the Devil's Triangle, or if they became such while there. However, it would seem they are near impossible to fight if you can't cross swords with them. The new movie is clearly trying to build on some elements that made the original film a success. Skeletons are simply being replaced with ghosts.
The Black Pearl
When last we left Captain Jack Sparrow's ship, it had been magically shrunk and placed inside a bottle. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ended with Jack off to look for a way to return his ship to its normal size. Will he have already found a way to do this by the time the new film opens? We have absolutely no idea. According to the film's synopsis, Jack Sparrow is at the helm of a ship called the Dying Gull, which isn't much of a ship, so whatever is going on, it appears that Jack either never found a way to get the Pearl back, or, possibly, lost it again.
Other Returning Characters
While we don't know exactly how some other recurring characters will be fitting intro the story, we know that one way or another they will be. Geoffrey Rush will be back as Captain Barbossa. He's gone back and fourth as Captain Jack Sparrow's ally and enemy over the course of the franchise, so it's anybody's guess how he'll fit into things in the new film. When last we left him he had reverted to piracy, following his brief stint working for the English crown, so odds are that's how we'll see him again.
Joshamee Gibbs was last seen alongside his old friend Captain Jack Sparrow and we know that the actor who portrays him, Kevin McNally, will be back in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. We expect we'll find him wherever we find Jack.
The most interesting returning character may be the pirate named Scrum who was played by Stephen Graham. What's interesting is that, if true, Scrum could end up being the only character introduced in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides to appear in the new film. As far we know, nothing else about that film is being dealt with or referenced in any way.
Paul McCartney
It's a well-known story at this point that Keith Richards was a major source of inspiration for Johnny Depp's portrayal as Captain Jack Sparrow. While we don't know if Keith Richards will be returning (though we're guessing no), we do know that another star from the golden era of rock n' roll will be appearing. Paul McCartney will probably just have a cameo in the film and almost certainly won't be a main character, but that doesn't mean his role won't be important to the film's overall plot. McCartney recently posted his character's official poster, which shows the music legend looking completely unrecognizable, to his Twitter feed. The fact fact that the film decided that his mystery character was important enough for his own poster might be a good sign that McCartney's role is important, or, of course, it could just be a sign that they thought it would be a good way to promote the film. Either way, we'll know for sure before long.
The Directors
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is the Hollywood feature film debut of a couple of Norweigan directors named Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg. The pair have previously directed a couple episodes of the Netflix series Marco Polo as well as several films in their native Norway. They made their feature film debut with the movie Banditas starring Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek but it was their 2012 film Kon-Tiki which is most notable. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and as the film itself was a high seas adventure. It's credited as the reason the pair got the directing job for the new Pirates movie rather than the several others who were in the running.
The Writer
The screenplay credit for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is being given to Jeff Nathanson. Nathanson has written and co-written several films, including Stephen Spielberg's Catch Me if You Can and The Terminal, as well as several films for Brett Ratner including Rush Hour 2 and 3. Nathanson hasn't been involved in the writing of any other films in the franchise. In fact, this will be the first one in the series not co-written by Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio. Perhaps the new blood is the thing that the series needs.
