Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

During the early 1990s, screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio began to think of a supernatural spin on the pirate genre.[10] Walt Disney Pictures had Jay Wolpert write a script based on the ride in 2001, which was based on a story created by the executives Brigham Taylor, Michael Haynes, and Josh Harmon. This story featured Will Turner as a prison guard who releases Sparrow to rescue Elizabeth, who is being held for ransom money by Captain Blackheart.

Disney was unsure whether to release the film in theaters or direct-to-video. The studio was interested in Matthew McConaughey as Sparrow because of his resemblance to Burt Lancaster, who had inspired that script's interpretation of the character. If they chose to release it direct-to-video, Christopher Walken or Cary Elwes would have been their first choices.[11]

Stuart Beattie was brought in to rewrite the script in March 2002, because of his knowledge of piracy.[12] When Dick Cook managed to convince producer Jerry Bruckheimer to join the project,[11] he rejected the script because it was "a straight pirate movie."[13] Later in March 2002, he brought Elliott and Rossio,[13] who suggested making a supernatural curse—as described in the opening narration of the ride—the film's plot.[14]

In May 2002, Gore Verbinski signed on to direct Pirates of the Caribbean.[12] He was attracted to the idea of using modern technology to resurrect a genre that had disappeared after the Golden Age of Hollywood and recalled his childhood memories of the ride, feeling the film was an opportunity to pay tribute to the "scary and funny" tone of it.[15]

Jim Carrey was considered for the part of Jack Sparrow. However, the production schedule for The Curse of the Black Pearl conflicted with Bruce Almighty. Others considered for the role include Michael Keaton and Christopher Walken.[16] Although Cook had been a strong proponent of adapting Disney's rides into films, the box office failure of The Country Bears (2002) made Michael Eisner attempt to shut down production of Pirates of the Caribbean. However, Verbinski told his concept artists to keep working on the picture, and when Eisner came to visit, the executive was astonished by what had been created.

As recalled in the book DisneyWar, Eisner asked "Why does it have to cost so much?" Bruckheimer replied, "Your competition is spending $150 million," referring to franchises like The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. Eisner concurred, but with the stigma attached to theme-park adaptations, Eisner requested Verbinski and Bruckheimer remove some of the more overt references to the ride in the script, such as a scene where Sparrow and Turner enter the cave via a waterfall.[17]

Ted Elliott was allegedly writing a George Lucas-produced animated film adaptation of The Curse of Monkey Island, which was cancelled before its official announcement, three years prior to the release of The Curse of the Black Pearl.[18] This film was allegedly in production at Industrial Light and Magic before being cancelled.

Ron Gilbert, the creator of the Monkey Island series, has jokingly expressed a bitterness towards Pirates of the Caribbean, specifically the second film, for its similarities to his game.[19] Gilbert has also stated that On Stranger Tides, a novel by Tim Powers which was adapted into the fourth film, was the principal source of inspiration for his video games.[20]

Verbinski did not want an entirely romanticized feel to the film: he wanted a sense of historical fantasy. Most of the actors wore prosthetics and contact lenses. Depp had contacts that acted as sunglasses, while Rush and Lee Arenberg wore dulled contacts that gave a sinister feel to the characters. Mackenzie Crook wore two contacts to represent his character's wooden eye: a soft version, and a harder version for when it protrudes. In addition, their rotten teeth and scurvy skin were dyed on,[21] although Depp did have gold teeth added, which he forgot to remove after filming.[22] Depp also used a genuine pistol which was made in 1760 in London, which the crew bought from a dealer in Connecticut.[21] A number of swords were built for the production by blacksmith Tony Swatton.[23] The crew spent five months creating the cavern in which Barbossa and the Black Pearl crew attempt to reverse their curse,[10] filling it with five feet of water, 882 Aztec coins, and some gold paint on the styrofoam rocks for more impressions of treasure. The crew also built the fortress at Port Royal in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, and Governor Swann's palace was built at Manhattan Beach.[21] A fire broke out in September 2002, causing $525,000 worth of damage, though no one was injured.[24]

The barge used for Dauntless

The filmmakers chose St. Vincent as their primary shooting location, as it contained the quietest beach they could find, and built three piers and a backlot for Port Royal and Tortuga.[21] Of most importance to the film were the three ships: Black Pearl, Dauntless, and Interceptor. For budget reasons, the ships were built on docks, with only six days spent in the open sea for the battle between Black Pearl and Interceptor.[25] Dauntless and Black Pearl were built on barges, with computer-generated imagery finishing the structures. Black Pearl was also built on the Spruce Goose stage, in order to control fog and lighting.[21] Interceptor was a re-dressed Lady Washington, a full-scale replica sailing ship from Aberdeen, Washington, fully repainted before going on a 40-day voyage beginning December 2, 2002, arriving on location on January 12, 2003.[26] A miniature was also built for the storm sequence.[21]

Principal photography began on October 9, 2002 and wrapped by March 7, 2003.[12] The quick shoot was only marred by two accidents: as Jack Sparrow steals Interceptor, three of the ropes attaching it to Dauntless did not break at first, and when they did snap, debris hit Depp's knee, though he was not injured, and the way the incident played out on film made it look like Sparrow merely ducks. A more humorous accident was when the boat Sparrow was supposed to arrive in at Port Royal sank.[15] In October, the crew was shooting scenes at Rancho Palos Verdes, by December they were shooting at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and in January they were at the cavern set at Los Angeles.[27] The script often changed with Elliott and Rossio on set, with additions such as Gibbs (Kevin McNally) telling Will how Sparrow allegedly escaped from an island—strapping two turtles together with rope made of his back hair—and Pryce was written into the climactic battle to keep some empathy for the audience.[15]

Because of the quick schedule of the shoot, Industrial Light & Magic immediately began visual effects work. While the skeletal forms of the pirates revealed by moonlight take up relatively little screentime, the crew knew their computer-generated forms had to convince in terms of replicating performances and characteristics of the actors, or else the transition would not work. Each scene featuring them was shot twice: a reference plate with the actors, and then without them to add in the skeletons,[10] an aesthetic complicated by Verbinski's decision to shoot the battles with handheld cameras.[15] The actors also had to perform their scenes again on the motion capture stage.[21] With the shoot only wrapping up four months before release, Verbinski spent 18-hour days on the edit,[15] while at the same time spending time on 600 effects shots, 250 of which were merely removing modern sailboats from shots.[28]

The film score was composed by Klaus Badelt, while Hans Zimmer[29] served as music producer. Seven other composers, including Geoff Zanelli, who later went on to compose the score for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Ramin Djawadi, are credited for "additional music". Verbinski oversaw the score with Badelt and Zimmer, who headed 15 composers to finish it quickly.[15] Alan Silvestri, who had collaborated with Verbinski on Mouse Hunt and The Mexican, was set to compose the score, but Bruckheimer decided to go with Zimmer's team instead, who were frequent collaborators of his productions. Silvestri left the production before recording any material.[30]

Pirates of the Caribbean was the first film released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner to be rated PG-13 by the MPAA; one executive noted that she found the film too intense for her five-year-old child.[13] Nonetheless, the studio was confident enough to add The Curse of the Black Pearl subtitle to the film in case sequels were made,[12] and to attract older children. Verbinski disliked the new title because it is the Aztec gold rather than the ship that is cursed, so he requested the title to be unreadable on the poster.[17]

The DVD and VHS editions of the film were released December 1, 2003, in the UK and December 2, 2003, in the US,[31] with 11 million copies sold in the first week, a record for live action video.[32] It earned $235 million from DVDs as of January 2004.[33] The DVD featured two discs, featuring three commentary tracks (Johnny Depp & Gore Verbinski; Jerry Bruckheimer, Keira Knightley & Jack Davenport; and the screenwriter team), various deleted scenes and documentaries, and a 1968 Disneyland episode about the theme park ride.[31] A special three-disc edition was released on November 2, 2004, in the U.S. and April 25, 2005, in the UK.[34]

A PSP release of the film followed on April 19, 2005.[35] The high-definition Blu-ray Disc version of the film was released on May 22, 2007.[36] This movie was also among the first to be sold at the iTunes music store. The Curse of the Black Pearl had its UK television premiere on Christmas Eve 2007 on BBC One at 20:30[37] and was watched by an estimated 7 million viewers.[38]

Before its release, many journalists expected Pirates of the Caribbean to be a flop. The pirate genre had not been successful for years, with Cutthroat Island (1995) being a notable flop. The film was also based on a theme park ride, and Depp, known mostly for starring in cult films at the time, had little track record as a box office leading man.[39]

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl opened at #1, grossing $46,630,690 in its opening weekend and $70,625,971 since its Wednesday launch. It eventually made its way to $654,264,015 worldwide ($305,413,918 domestically and $348,850,097 overseas), becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2003.[2] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 50.64 million tickets in the US.[40]

Internationally it dominated for seven consecutive weekends at the box office,[41] tying the record of Men in Black II at the time.[42] Only three movies after that broke the record; its sequel, Dead Man's Chest, (with nine consecutive #1 weekends and ten in total),[43] Avatar (with 11 consecutive #1 weekends)[44] and The Smurfs (with eight consecutive #1 weekends).[45] It is currently the 71st-highest-grossing film of all time.[46]

Depp (shown here in 2003) earned universal acclaim for his performance as Jack Sparrow and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. It later earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 79% based on 219 reviews, and an average rating of 7.11/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It may leave you exhausted like the theme park ride that inspired it; however, you'll have a good time when it's over."[47] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film received an average score of 63 out of 100, based on reviews from 40 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[48] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[49]

Alan Morrison of Empire felt it was "the best blockbuster of the summer," acclaiming all the comic performances despite his disappointment with the swashbuckling sequences.[50]

The performance of Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow was particularly praised by critics and audiences alike. Review site PopMatters applauds Depp's performance by saying "Ingenious and mesmerizing, Johnny Depp embodies the film's essential fantasy, that a pirate's life is exciting and unfettered." James Berardinelli of ReelViews also applauds Depp's performance by saying "Pirates of the Caribbean belongs to Johnny Depp...Take away Depp, and you're left with a derivative and dull motion picture."[51]

Roger Ebert acclaimed the performances of Depp and Rush, and particularly that "It can be said that [Depp's] performance is original in its every atom. There has never been a pirate, or for that matter a human being, like this in any other movie... his behavior shows a lifetime of rehearsal." However, he felt the film went on for too long,[52] a criticism shared by Kenneth Turan's negative review, feeling it "spends far too much time on its huge supporting cast of pirates (nowhere near as entertaining as everyone assumes) and on bloated adventure set pieces," despite having also enjoyed Depp's performance.[53]

For his performance as Captain Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp won several awards, including Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role at the 10th Screen Actors Guild Awards, Best Male Performance at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, and Best Actor at the 9th Empire Awards. Depp was also nominated for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the 61st Golden Globe Awards, Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 57th British Academy Film Awards, and Best Actor at the 76th Academy Awards, in which The Curse of the Black Pearl also received nominations for Best Makeup, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects.[54] Awards won by Curse of the Black Pearl include Best Make-up/Hair at the 57th British Academy Film Awards, Saturn Award for Best Costumes, Golden Reel Award for Sound Editing, two VES Awards for Visual Effects, and the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture.[55]

American Film Institute Lists

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated[56]
• AFI's 10 Top 10 – Fantasy – Nominated[57]