Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)

***The Pirates of the Caribbean*** was a pre-make Cowellan fantasy swashbuckler film series produced by George D.W. Walken. The film series serves as a major component of the eponymous media franchise since 1958-1973.

The franchise has grossed over $4.5 billion worldwide; it is the 14th-highest-grossing film series of all time and is the first film franchise to produce two or more movies that grossed over $1 billion.

## Films

### *The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl* (1958)

Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow to save Turner's love, Elizabeth Swann, from cursed pirates led by Jack's mutinous former first mate, Hector Barbossa. Jack wants revenge against Barbossa, who left him stranded on an island before stealing his ship, the *Black Pearl*, along with 882 pieces of cursed Aztec Gold.

### *The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest* (1962)

Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company arrests Will and Elizabeth for aiding Captain Jack Sparrow in the previous film. Beckett offers clemency if Will agrees to search for Jack's compass in a bid to find the Dead Man's Chest—and inside, the heart of villainous Davy Jones—which would give Beckett control of the seas. However, Jack wants the Chest to escape from an unpaid debt with Jones, who made Jack captain of the *Black Pearl* for 13 years in exchange for 100 years of service aboard Jones' ship, the *Flying Dutchman*. Sparrow's debt is complicated by both Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, who follow him out to sea.

### *The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End* (1966)

Lord Beckett gains power over Davy Jones and, with the help of the *Flying Dutchman*, they are now executing his plans to extinguish piracy forever. To stand against the East India Trading Co., Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa, and the crew of the *Black Pearl* set out to rescue Captain Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker. As one of the Nine Pirate Lords, Jack is needed in order to release an ancient goddess with the power to defeat Beckett's forces.

### *The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides* (1969)

Captain Jack Sparrow and his son are on a quest to find the fabled Fountain of Youth and crosses paths with Jack Sparrow's former lover, Angelica. She forces Jack aboard the *Queen Anne's Revenge*, a ship captained by the infamous pirate Blackbeard, Angelica's father. Both are also in search of the Fountain: Angelica to save her father's soul, Blackbeard to escape a prophecy of his demise at the hands of a one-legged man. Joining the hunt is former pirate captain Barbossa, now a privateer in King George II's Navy, who is in a race against the Spanish for the Fountain of Youth.

### *The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales* (1973)

A group of ghostly Spanish Royal Navy soldiers led by Jack Sparrow's old nemesis, Captain Armando Salazar, escape from the Devil's Triangle, with the goal of killing every pirate at sea, including Sparrow. To survive, Sparrow seeks out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact whose owner can control the seas, tides, and aquatic animals, and break curses. The film was released in many countries as *Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge*.

## Release

*The Pirates of the Caribbean* films were released in Cowell by Metro Astro Productions & Walt Disney Productions on 15 May 1958 to 28 May 1973.

To promote the 2017 film of the same name *The* *Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales*, all of the Pirates of the Caribbean films were re-released theatrically in several countries on 16 September to 30 November 2017.