Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

## Pirates of the Caribbean

"The Curse of the Black Pearl"

***Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl*** is the first installment in the *Pirates of the Caribbean* film series, released as a pirate adventure film, by Walt Disney Pictures on July 9, 2003. The film stars Johnny Depp (Captain Jack Sparrow), Geoffrey Rush (Barbossa), Orlando Bloom (Will Turner) and Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann). It was directed by Gore Verbinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and written by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert.

The film was inspired by and partly based on the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions, first unveiled at Disneyland in 1967. The film itself is set in a loose, floating period of time between 1720 and 1750, although a number of concessions are made concerning historical accuracy. It was the first Walt Disney Pictures release to earn a PG-13 rating by the MPAA (all previous Disney releases were rated G or PG).

As of March 16 2004, *Pirates* had grossed at the box office more than $653 million worldwide—the 21st highest grossing movie ever. *The Curse of the Black Pearl* proved to be a success for Walt Disney Pictures and, within weeks of its release, the studio announced that a sequel, *Dead Man's Chest* was in development. The film was also well-received by critics. Johnny Depp received a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance as Jack Sparrow as well as being nominated for a Golden Globe. At the Academy Awards, *The Curse of the Black Pearl* was nominated in four different categories.

## Development

During the early 1990s, screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio began to think of a supernatural spin on the pirate genre. 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. Stuart Beattie was brought in to rewrite the script in March 2002, because of his knowledge of piracy. When Dick Cook managed to convince producer Jerry Bruckheimer to join the project, he rejected the script because it was "a straight pirate movie." Later in March 2002, he brought Elliott and Rossio, who suggested making a supernatural curse, as described in the opening narration of the ride, the film's plot.

In May 2002, Gore Verbinski signed on to direct *Pirates of the Caribbean*. 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.

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. Eventually, Johnny Depp was cast as Bruckheimer felt he could give the character the edge. 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.

##### Production

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 teeth and scurvy skin were dyed on, although Depp did have gold teeth added, which he forgot to remove after filming. Depp also used a genuine pistol which was made in 1760 in London, which the crew bought from a dealer in Connecticut. A number of swords were built for the production by blacksmith Tony Swatton. The crew spent five months creating the cavern in which Barbossa and the *Black Pearl* crew attempt to reverse their curse, 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. A fire broke out in September 2002, causing $525,000 worth of damage, though no one was injured.

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. 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*. *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. *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. A miniature was also built for the storm sequence.

Principal photography began on October 9, 2002, and wrapped by March 7, 2003. 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. 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. 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.

##### Post Production

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, an aesthetic complicated by Verbinski's decision to shoot the battles with handheld cameras. The actors also had to perform their scenes again on the motion capture stage. With the shoot only wrapping up four months before release, Verbinski spent 18-hour days on the edit, while simultaneously spending time on 600 effects shots, 250 of which were merely removing modern sailboats from shots.

## Reception

##### Marketing

*Pirates of the Caribbean* was the first film released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner to be rated PG-13 by the MPAA (for action/adventure violence); one executive noted that she found the film too intense for her five-year-old child. Nonetheless, the studio was confident enough to add *The Curse of the Black Pearl* subtitle to the film in case sequels were made, 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.

##### Release

Before its release, many journalists expected *Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl* 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.

*Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl* opened at #1 above *Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines*, grossing $46,630,690 in its opening weekend and $70,625,971 since its Wednesday launch. It would also outgross another pirate-themed film, *Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas*. The film was overtaken by *Bad Boys II* during its second weekend, but still made $34 million. 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. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 50.64 million tickets in the US. Internationally it dominated for seven consecutive weekends at the box office.

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. 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." 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, 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. Mark Kermode described the film as "a triumph of turgid theme-park hackery over the art of cinema".

##### Awards

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. 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.