While three-time Academy Award nominee Johnny Depp has conquered the chocolate factory, Wonderland, Fleet Street, Neverland, and Las Vegas (just to name a few), the star returns to the rough seas of adventure as the lovable swashbuckler, Captain Jack Sparrow, for the fourth installment of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, On Stranger Tides. From the newly-surfacing details all over the web, it looks like Depp is getting lots of on-screen action with Academy Award winner and Blow co-star, Penélope Cruz. She plays Jack’s former lover, Angelica. Also, adding to the mix, Jack’s newest nemesis is Golden Globe winner Ian McShane (Deadwood), who plays the legendary Blackbeard, and Angelica’s father.
According to IMDB, the storyline is this: “Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past, Angelica, and he’s not sure if it’s love- or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard, Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past. ”
Set for release on May 20, 2011, the new film is directed by Rob Marshall (Nine, Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha), featuring favorites like Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, and Greg Ellis as Lieutenant Theodore Groves. New additions to the already promising cast include Boardwalk Empire’s Stephen Graham as Scrum; Spanish actor Óscar Jaenada (The Losers) as Spaniard; Sam Claflin (Pillars of the Earth) as Philip, a stalwart missionary; European / American ingénue Astrid Berges-Frisbey as the mermaid, Syrena; and Australian model / actress Gemma Ward (The Strangers) as a mermaid named Tamara.
With all the hype and anticipation, Cruz announced her pregnancy with her new husband, Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), which caused an uproar of concern for the film’s production. It was reported that some of her scenes were “tweaked” to hide her growing belly, as well as making adjustments in her shooting schedule to conceal her change in shape. Many of her scenes had been filmed over the summer in Hawaii, yet Cruz returns to London this week, now five months pregnant, to resume filming. That should provide quite the challenge for the wardrobe department, as her character is expected to wear binding corsets.
Famous cast members, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom did not return to reprise their roles as the enchanting Elizabeth Swan and heartthrob Will Turner. By the close of At World’s End, Will served his ten-year sentence as captain of The Flying Dutchman, and returned to Elizabeth, who had given birth to their son shortly after his departure. Therefore, their fates are pretty sealed. Knightley recently revealed that she “has had enough” of the Pirates franchise, as it took up four years of her career. She garners no hard feelings as the first three films, which helped catapult her to fame, earning her the lead role in Pride & Prejudice, and subsequently an Oscar nomination in 2006.
A flurry of production images have hit the web, exciting fans everywhere about On Stranger Tides, which has been three years in the making. Additionally, MetroWNY.com revealed through sources that Depp “never breaks character. Everyone calls him Jack now, even between takes. The only difference to the movie Captain Jack is that Johnny tends to swagger around listening to his iPod but even that’s playing old sea shanties to help keep him in character.”
Also, CinemaBlend.com reveals this about the pre-credit start of the film: “It begins with a fisherman. Late one night, while on a fishing vessel, the fisherman sees something beneath the surface. After calling to the ship’s captain and pulling the shape out of the water, they discover that it is the body of an ‘ancient sailor’ who, much to their surprise, is still alive. In the next scene, the captain and his aide bring the sailor to King Ferdinand of Spain. The captain then tells the king that the sailor was once on a crew with Ponce de Leon who had died 200 years earlier. It quickly dawns on Ferdinand that de Leon had discovered the Fountain of Youth and quickly orders the Captain to go find it.”
Although speculation about a fourth movie raises the question if it will live up to the wild success of the original film, or the dramatic action from the second and third installments. Worldwide, the films have been lauded as classic Disney tales, blending comedy, adventure, and the imagination. This is evident as The Curse of the Black Pearl earned over $305 million, Dead Man’s Chest earned over $423 million, and At World’s End earned over $309 million.
In my opinion, when you put all these ingredients together: Depp, Cruz, McShane, the Fountain of Youth, and everything we’ve ever loved about Pirates, it’s easy to be hopeful that this gang of sea-dwellers will astound and entertain audiences around the world, without fail. Personally, I know I can’t wait to hear Captain Jack say, “Why is the rum always gone?”
More photos over at /Film
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