Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

## Pirates of the Caribbean

At World's End

***Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End*** is a 2007 American epic fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Gore Verbinski. The film is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The sequel to *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl* (2003) and *Dead Man's Chest* (2006), it is the third installment in the *Pirates of the Caribbean* film series. Set a few months after *Dead Man's Chest*, the story follows a desperate quest to locate and rescue of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), trapped on a sea of sand in Davy Jones' Locker, and convene the Brethren Court in a war against the East India Trading Company. In an uneasy alliance, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), and the crew of the *Black Pearl* rescue Jack and prepare to fight Lord Cutler Beckett, who controls Davy Jones and the *Flying Dutchman*.

Two sequels to *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl* were conceived in 2004, with Elliott and Rossio developing a story arc that would span both films. The film was shot in two shoots during 2005 and 2006, the former of which was released as *Dead Man's Chest*. This also marks the final film of the series to be directed by Verbinski. With a production budget of nearly US$300 million, it was, at time of production, the most expensive film ever made.

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution released *At World's End* in the United States on May 18, 2007, and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances and visual effects, but criticized its plot, pacing and runtime. It was the highest-grossing film of 2007, bringing in over $963 million. It was nominated at the 80th Academy Awards for Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects, and won Favorite Movie Actor for Johnny Depp at the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards.

## Development

Following *The Curse of the Black Pearl*'s success in 2003, the cast and crew signed on for two sequels to be shot back-to-back. For the third film, director Gore Verbinski wanted to return the tone to that of a character piece after using the second film to keep the plot moving. Inspired by the real-life confederation of pirates, Elliott and Rossio looked at historical figures and created fictional characters from them to expand the scope beyond the main cast. Finally embellishing their mythology, Calypso was introduced, going full circle to Barbossa's mention of "heathen gods" that created the curse in the first film.

#### Filming

Parts of the third film were shot during location filming of *Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest*, a long shoot which finished on March 1, 2006. During August 2005, the Singapore sequence was shot. The set was built on Stage 12 of the Universal Studios backlot, and comprised 40 structures. As 18th century Singapore is not a well-documented era, the filmmakers chose to use an Expressionist style based on Chinese and Malaysian cities of the same period. The design of the city was also intended by Verbinski to parody spa culture, with fungi growing throughout the set. Continuing this natural feel, the floorboards of Sao Feng's bathhouse had to be cut by hand, and real humidity was created by the combination of gallons of water and the lighting equipment on the set.

Filming resumed on August 3, 2006, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah for 70 days off the California coast, as all the shooting required in the Caribbean had been conducted in 2005. Davy Jones' Locker was shot at Utah, and it was shot in a monochromatic way to represent its different feeling from the usual colorful environment of a pirate. The climactic battle was shot in a former air hangar at Palmdale, California, where the cast had to wear wetsuits underneath their costumes on angle-tipped ships. The water-drenched set was kept in freezing temperatures, to make sure bacteria did not come inside and infect the crew. A second unit was shot at Niagara Falls. Industrial Light & Magic did 750 effects shots, while Digital Domain also took on 300. They spent just five months finishing the special effects. The film posed numerous challenges in creating water-based effects.

Filming finished on December 12, 2006, in Molokai, and the first assembly cut was three hours. Twenty minutes were removed, not including end credits, though producer Jerry Bruckheimer maintained that the long running time was needed to make the final battle work in terms of build-up.

## Release

##### Marketing

After a muted publicity campaign, the trailer finally debuted at ShoWest 2007. It was shown on March 18, 2007, at a special screening of *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl* named "Pirates Ultimate Fan Event", and was then shown on March 19 during *Dancing with the Stars*, before it debuted online. Action figures by NECA were released in late April. Board games such as a Collector's Edition Chess Set, a Monopoly Game, and a Pirates Dice Game (Liar's Dice) were also released. Master Replicas made sculptures of characters and replicas of jewellery and the Dead Man's Chest. A video game with the same title as the film was released on May 22, 2007, on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PSP, PlayStation 2, PC, and Nintendo DS formats. The soundtrack and its remix were also released on May 22.

##### Release

The world premiere of *At World's End* was held on May 18, 2007, at Disneyland, home of the ride that inspired the film and where the first two films in the trilogy debuted. Disneyland offered the general public a chance to attend the premiere through the sale of tickets, priced at $1,500 per ticket, with proceeds going to the Make-a-Wish Foundation charity. Just a few weeks before the film's release, Walt Disney Pictures decided to move the United States opening of *At World's End* from screenings Friday, May 18, 2007, to Thursday at 8 pm, May 17, 2007. The film opened in 4,362 theaters on May 25, 2007, beating *Spider-Man 3*'s theater opening record by 110 (this record was surpassed by *The Dark Knight* the following year).

At least one nation's official censors ordered scenes cut from the film. According to Xinhua, the state news agency of the People's Republic of China, ten minutes of footage containing Chow Yun-fat's portrayal of Singaporean pirate Sao Feng were trimmed from versions of the film which may be shown in China. Chow is onscreen for twenty minutes in the uncensored theatrical release of the film. No official reason for the censorship was given, but unofficial sources within China have indicated that the character gave a negative and stereotypical portrayal of Chinese people.

##### Reception

*Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End* earned $309.4 million in North America and $654 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $963.4 million. It is the highest-grossing film of 2007 and the third-highest-grossing film in the *Pirates of the Caribbean* series. Compared to its predecessor, it grossed far less at the North American box office, but more outside North America. Still, its worldwide earnings are more than $100 million below *Dead Man's Chest*'s. During its worldwide opening weekend, it grossed $344 million, making it the seventh-largest opening.

*At World's End* was released in a then-record 4,362 theaters in North America, and was shown on around 11,500 screens, which is still an all-time record. On its first three-day weekend, it earned $114.7 million. It set a Memorial Day 4-day weekend record ($139.8 million), which it held until the release of *Top Gun: Maverick*, another film produced by Bruckheimer in 2022. This record was previously held by *X-Men: The Last Stand*. Including Thursday night previews, as well, *At World's End* earned $153 million in 5 days, and is the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2007. Among *May's Big Three* (*Spider-Man 3*, *Shrek 3* and *Pirates 3*), *Pirates 3* grossed the least both during its opening weekend and in total earnings. However, this was mainly attributed to the fact that it was released third, after the other two films, so there was already too much competition. It is also the second-highest-grossing film in the *Pirates* series.

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 44% based on 228 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "*POTC: AWE* provides the thrilling action scenes, but mixes in too many characters with too many incomprehensible plot threads." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film received an average score of 50 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−".

Drew McWeeny praised the film's complexity as giving it repeat-viewing value, and its conclusion as "perhaps the most canny move it makes." Todd Gilchrist found the story too similar to other cinematic trilogies such as *Star Wars*, but praised the production values. Brian Lowry felt that "unlike last year's bloated sequel, it at least possesses some semblance of a destination, making it slightly more coherent – if no less numbing during the protracted finale." *Total Film* praised the performances but complained that the twists and exposition made it hard to care for the characters. Edward Douglas liked the film but had issues with its pacing, while Blake Wright criticized the Davy Jones' Locker and Calypso segments. James Berardinelli found it the weakest of the trilogy as "the last hour offers adventure as rousing as anything provided in either of the previous installments... which doesn't account for the other 108 minutes of this gorged, self-indulgent, and uneven production." Peter Travers praised Richards and Rush but felt "there can indeed be too much of a good thing," regarding Depp's character. Travers later declared the movie to be one of the worst films of the year. Colm Andrew of the *Manx Independent* said the film was overall a disappointment and that "the final showdown ... is a non-event and the repetitive swordplay and inane plot contrivances simply become boring by the end". Richard Roeper gave a positive review, saying "Gore Verbinski and the stunt and special effects crews have created one of the most impressive blends of live-action work and CGI wizardry ever put on film," and believing it "rarely drags and is almost always entertaining." He praised the performances of the actors as one of the best things about the film.

Chow Yun-fat's character stirred controversy with the Chinese press. Perry Lam, of Hong Kong cultural magazine *Muse*, found an offensive resemblance between Chow's character and Fu Manchu: "Now Fu Manchu has returned after an absence of 27 years in the Hollywood cinema; except that, in a nod to political correctness and marketing realities, he is no longer called Fu Manchu."

##### Accolades

At the 80th Academy Awards, *Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End* was nominated for two awards, Best Makeup and Best Visual Effects. At the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, the film was nominated for three awards, including one win: the Best Comedic Performance (Johnny Depp). At the 34th People's Choice Awards, it was nominated for five awards, including four wins: Favorite Movie, Favorite Threequel, Favorite Male Movie Star (Johnny Depp) and Favorite Female Action Star (Keira Knightley). Also, at the Teen Choice Awards it won five awards, out of six nominations. Finally, at the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards, it achieved three nominations but won only the Favorite Movie Actor award (Johnny Depp). However, Orlando Bloom was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor.