Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides 2011

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 adventure fantasy film and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Gore Verbinski, who had directed the three previous films, was replaced by Rob Marshall, while Jerry Bruckheimer again served as producer.
In the film, which draws inspiration from the novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is joined by Angelica (Penélope Cruz) in his search for the Fountain of Youth, confronting the infamous pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane). The film was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, and had its theatrical debut in release dates falling within May 18 and May 20, 2011. The release was presented in Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3D, as well as in traditional two-dimensional and IMAX formats.
Writers Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott first learned of Powers' novel during the back-to-back production of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, and considered it a good starting point for a new movie in the series. Pre-production started after the end of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, with Johnny Depp collaborating with the writers on the story design. Principal photography rolled for 106 days between June and November 2010, with locations in Hawaii, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, and California. Filming employed 3D cameras similar to those used in the production of the 2009 film Avatar, and ten companies were involved with the film's visual effects.
On Stranger Tides broke many box office records upon release, and it stands as the 8th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide when not adjusting for inflation. Critical reviews were mixed, with the film receiving criticism over the script-writing, excessiveness, and lack of originality; positive mentions were given on the acting, directing and visuals.

Plot

After a failed attempt to rescue his first mate, Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally) in London, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is brought before King George II (Richard Griffiths), who wants Jack to guide an expedition to the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish locate it. Heading the expedition is Jack's old nemesis, Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), now a privateer in service to the Royal Navy after losing his leg and ship, the Black Pearl.
Jack escapes, but his father, Captain Teague (Keith Richards), finds him and warns Jack about the Fountain's tests. He also reveals that someone is impersonating Jack. The impostor is Angelica (Penélope Cruz), Jack's former lover and daughter of the ruthless pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), who practices voodoo magic and, armed with a magical sword, possesses supernatural powers.
Jack is taken aboard Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, and forced to lead the way to the Fountain and find two silver chalices that once belonged to Juan Ponce de León, both believed to be aboard his lost ship. The Fountain's water must be drunk simultaneously from the two chalices. The person drinking from the chalice containing a mermaid's tear has their life extended, while the other person dies, their life drained from their body and their remaining years 'donated' to the other. Meanwhile, Gibbs, having memorized and destroyed Jack's map, barters with Barbossa to guide him to the Fountain.
Blackbeard seeks the Fountain's power to circumvent his predestined fatal encounter with "a one-legged man," and sets a course for Whitecap Bay. There they are attacked by a vicious horde of mermaids, but Blackbeard captures one (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey). Philip Swift (Sam Claflin), a captive missionary, falls in love with the mermaid and names her Syrena. Blackbeard then sends Jack to retrieve the chalices from de León's ship.
When Jack finds the grounded, decaying vessel, Barbossa is waiting inside and the Spanish are in possession of the chalices. However, Barbossa only seeks revenge against Blackbeard for capturing the Black Pearl, which forced Barbossa to amputate his own leg to escape. He and Jack join forces to defeat Blackbeard, then head to the nearby Spanish camp to steal the chalices. Meanwhile, Syrena, reciprocating Philip's love, is tricked into shedding a tear which Blackbeard collects, leaving her to die. Philip is forced to go with him. Jack returns with the chalices and Gibbs, with whom he had reunited while assisting Barbossa. Jack and Blackbeard bargain for Jack's confiscated magical compass and Gibbs' release. In return, Jack vows to give Blackbeard the chalices and lead him to the Fountain; Blackbeard agrees and Gibbs departs with the compass.
At the Fountain, Blackbeard and his crew are attacked by Barbossa, and then by the Spanish, there to destroy the Fountain, their king believing its power is an abomination against God. A battle ensues and Barbossa stabs Blackbeard with a poison-laced sword. Angelica accidentally cuts herself while removing it from Blackbeard. Barbossa claims the sword and assumes command, leaving with Blackbeard's crew. Meanwhile, Philip, though mortally wounded, escapes and returns to free Syrena. After finding the chalices that the Spaniard had tossed into deep water, Syrena gives them to Jack, then retrieves the dying Philip and takes him underwater.
With Blackbeard and Angelica wounded, Blackbeard asks his daughter to sacrifice herself. Angelica agrees but Jack tricks Blackbeard into drinking the wrong chalice and gives Angelica the tear, thus saving Angelica and killing Blackbeard. Although Jack and Angelica admit their love for each other, Jack strands Angelica on an island, knowing that she may want to avenge her father's death. Barbossa, who now captains the Queen Anne's Revenge, quits being a privateer and returns to piracy. Jack finds Gibbs, who has used the compass to locate the shrunken Black Pearl and is shown to be in possession of all ships Blackbeard had shrunken in bottles. Hoping to bring the Black Pearl to its original size, the two head off into the sunset, determined to continue living a pirate's life.
In a post-credits scene, Angelica, still on the island, finds Blackbeard's voodoo doll of Jack, which has washed ashore.

Cast

Top to bottom: Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush who reprised their roles from the previous films as Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Hector Barbossa respectively.

Main article: List of Pirates of the Caribbean characters

• Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow
• Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa
• Penélope Cruz as Angelica
• Ian McShane as Edward "Blackbeard" Teach
• Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs
• Sam Claflin as Philip Swift
• Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey as Syrena
• Greg Ellis as Lt. Cmdr. Theodore Groves
• Damian O'Hare as Lieutenant Gillette
• Stephen Graham as Scrum
• Óscar Jaenada as The Spaniard, King Ferdinand's most trusted agent
• Gemma Ward as Tamara
• Richard Griffiths as King George II of Great Britain
• Keith Richards as Captain Teague
• Judi Dench as a noblewoman
• Robbie Kay as the Cabin boy
• Derek Mears as the Master-at-Arms
• Deobia Oparei as the Gunner
• Danny Le Boyer as Yeoman
• Ian Mercer as the Quartermaster
• Sebastian Armesto as King Ferdinand of the Spanish Empire
• Anton Lesser as Lord John Carteret
• Roger Allam as Henry Pelham, Prime Minister of Great Britain
• Paul Bazely as Salaman, an Indian crew member of the Queen Anne's Revenge

Production

Development

Shortly before the premiere of At World's End, Jerry Bruckheimer stated it was the end of the trilogy, but the idea of a spin-off was still possible. After the film's successful opening weekend, Dick Cook, former Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, said he was interested in a fourth installment. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio had started working on a script in 2007, but they were interrupted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, and only resumed in mid-2008. On September 25, 2008, during a Disney event at the Kodak Theater, Cook and Johnny Depp, in full Captain Jack Sparrow costume, announced that a fourth Pirates movie was in development.
In June 2009 Bruckheimer indicated Disney would prefer the fourth installment of Pirates to be released before The Lone Ranger film, which he, Johnny Depp, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rossio had been working on for release on May 20, 2011. He hoped Gore Verbinski would return to direct the fourth film, as his BioShock film adaptation had been put on hold. As Verbinski was unavailable due to his commitment with Rango the same year, Bruckheimer suggested Rob Marshall, who he considered a "premiere filmmaker", stating that "Every film [Marshall] made I thought was unique and different. On July 21, 2009, Marshall accepted the job, because of the "whole new story line and set of characters. It felt new, and that was important to me. Marshall said the film provided him a long-awaited opportunity to work with Deep, and that his directing was helped by past experience as a choreographer – "the action sequences felt like big production numbers. On September 11, 2009, at Disney's D23 convention, the title was announced as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Marshall visited the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland for inspiration, eventually paying homage with a skeleton holding a magnifying glass in Ponce de Leon's ship. An appearance of "Old Bill", the pirate who tries to share his rum with a cat, was also filmed but cut.
Cook resigned in September 2009 after working for Disney for over 38 years. Depp's faith in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was somewhat shaken after the resignation, with Depp explaining that "There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment. It was all born in that office Depp also explained Cook was one of the few who accepted his portrayal of Jack Sparrow: "When things went a little sideways on the first Pirates movie and others at the studio were less than enthusiastic about my interpretation of the character, Dick was there from the first moment. He trusted me

Writing

During production of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio discovered Tim Powers' 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, which they considered a good foundation on which to base "a new chapter" in the Pirates series. Disney bought the rights to the novel in April 2007. Rossio stated that he and Elliot had considered using Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth in the story before reading the book, "but whenever you say those words, Powers' novel comes to mind. There was no way we could work in that field without going into territory Tim had explored." However, they denied that it would be a straight version of the novel: "Blackbeard came from the book, and in the book there is a daughter character, too. But Jack Sparrow is not in the book, nor is Barbossa. So I wouldn't call this an adaptation. Rossio declared the script was written to be a standalone film, "kind of a James Bond sort of thing", instead of the "designed to be a trilogy" structure of the previous installments. They hoped to "design a story that would support new characters," as characters such as Will Turner would not return. Bruckheimer added that there was a decision to "streamline the story a little bit, make it a little simpler and not have as many characters to follow", as the number of characters and subplots in At World's End caused the film to have an unwieldy length. The duo decided to employ another sea myth alluded in the previous episodes: mermaids, which are briefly referenced in the book. The mermaids' role expanded in the script, which included a vast attack sequence.
Depp was deeply involved with the story design, frequently meeting the writers to show what he was interested in doing, and in the words of Rossio, being "involved in coming up with story lines, connecting characters, creating moments that we would then fashion, shape and then go back. Among Depp's suggestions were turning Phillip into a missionary, and having a Spanish contingent following the protagonists. Afterwards, Rob Marshall and executive producer John DeLuca met Rossio and Elliot, and did alterations of their own, including building the female lead.

Casting

Depp signed on to return as Captain Jack Sparrow in September 2008, saying that he would come back if the script was good. Almost a year later, Disney announced that Depp would be paid $55.5 million for his role, realising that without him the franchise would be "dead and buried. Geoffrey Rush expressed interest in returning to his role as Barbossa, and Bruckheimer later confirmed his presence. Rush was positive on Barbossa having lost a leg, as he considered the disability made him "angrier, more forceful and resilient as a character", and had to work with the stunt team for an accurate portrayal of the limp and usage of cane, particularly during swordfighting scenes. While the production team considered a prop peg leg to be put over Rush's leg, the tight schedule caused it to be replaced with a blue sock that was replaced digitally, with a knob on the shoe to give Rush a reference for his walk. Three other actors from the previous films returned, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Greg Ellis as Lt. Theodore Groves, and Damian O'Hare as Lt. Gilette. Keith Richards also had a cameo, reprising his role as Captain Teague from At World's End; he and Depp tried to persuade Mick Jagger to audition for the part of a pirate elder. Previous cast members Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley stated that they would not reprise their roles, as they wanted to be involved in different films. They both thought the storyline involving their characters had gone as far as it could. On February 5, 2010, Mackenzie Crook also announced he would not be reprising his role of Ragetti, stating, "They haven't asked me. But actually I don't mind that at all. I'm a fan of the first one especially and I think the trilogy we've made is great. I'd almost like them to leave it there.
New cast members include Ian McShane, who plays the notorious pirate and primary antagonist of the film, Blackbeard, and Penélope Cruz, who plays Angelica, Jack Sparrow's love interest. According to Marshall, McShane was chosen because "he can play something evil but there’s always humor behind it as well", and the actor accepted the job due to both the "very funny and charming" script and the opportunity to work with Marshall. The beard took one hour and a half to get applied, and McShane likened the character's costume to "a real biker pirate – it’s all black leather. Marshall said Cruz was the only actress considered for the role, as she fit the description as "an actress who could not only go toe to toe with Johnny and match him, but also needed to be all the things that Jack Sparrow is in a way. She needed to be funny and clever and smart and crafty and beautiful, and invited her for the role as they wrapped the production of Nine.  The actress spent two months working out and learning fencing for the role. During filming, Cruz discovered she was pregnant, leading the costume department to redesign her wardrobe to be more elastic, and the producers to hire her sister Mónica Cruz to double for Penélope in risky scenes. Depp recommended Stephen Graham, who worked with him in Public Enemies, to play Scrum, a Machiavellian pirate and sidekick to Jack Sparrow, and Richard Griffiths for the role of King George II, as Depp was a fan of Griffiths' work on With nail and I. Sam Claflin, a recent drama school graduate with television experience, was chosen to play the missionary Philip, and British actor Paul Bazely also joined the cast. Spanish news website El Pais reported that the film had four Spanish actors: Cruz, Bergès-Frisbey, Óscar Jaenada, and Juan Carlos Vellido. Jaenada was picked for both his work in The Losers and a recommendation by Cruz.
Casting for mermaids required the actresses to have natural breasts—no implants. As Bruckheimer explained to EW, "I don’t think they had breast augmentation in the 1700s, [...] So it’s natural for casting people to say, ‘We want real people. Marshall invited Spanish-French actress Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey to play Syrena after seeing her in a French magazine article on up-and-coming actresses. Bergès-Frisbey had to take lessons of English, swimming and breath control for the role.
The rest of the mermaid portrayers, such as Australian supermodel Gemma Ward, were chosen for having "exotic sense, an otherworldly sensibility, but also under those layers a deadly quality", according to Marshall, and had to take swimming lessons to learn movements such as the dolphin and eggbeater kicks.

Filming

Principal photography began on June 14, 2010, in Hawaii. Filming was moved to California in August 2010, primarily at the Long Beach shoreand a recreation of Whitecap Bay done in the Universal Studios backlot, as the original Hawaiian location on Halona Cove was plagued with strong tides. After a brief shoot in Puerto Rico, with locations in both Palomino Island and the Fort of San Cristóbal in San Juan, production moved to the United Kingdom in September, where principal photography wrapped on November 18 after 106 days of shooting. Locations included Hampton Court Palace in London, Knole House in Kent, and Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich. Interiors were shot at London's Pinewood Studios, and a replica of a 17th century London street was built on the backlot alongside the soundstages. The producers also considered using New Orleans as a location. In October, security was breached at the UK site when a celebrity impersonator gained access to filming at the Old Royal Naval College by dressing up as Captain Jack.
After the joint production of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End cost over $300 million, Disney decided to give a lower budget to the fourth installment. Many costs had to be cut, including moving primary production to Hawaii and London, where tax credits are more favorable, and having a shorter shooting schedule and fewer scenes featuring special effects compared to At World's End. The tighter schedule—according to Bruckheimer, "We had a 22-week post, and for a picture like this, with almost 1,200 visual effects shots, it's usually 40 weeks"—meant that Marshall supervised editing of sequences during filming.
Jerry Bruckheimer said the decision to film in 3D was made due to its being "immersive filmmaking; I think it makes you part of the actual filming because you’re part of the screen." Bruckheimer described it as the first major "exterior movie" to be shot in 3D, as Avatar was mostly done in sound stages. At first Marshall was not much interested in 3D, but the director eventually considered it a film that could benefit from the format. "You are on an adventure and with the 3D experience you are inside that adventure. While the original plan was to add 3D effects during post-production, the decision was made to film with 3D cameras. Only one sequence was shot conventionally and needed a 3D conversion. The cameras were improved versions of the ones James Cameron developed for Avatar, which were made more compact for extra mobility. This meant the cameras could be brought into locations such as the Hawaiian jungle.
The Queen Anne's Revenge was built atop the Sunset, the same ship used to depict the Black Pearl in previous installments. On February 2010, the Sunset was sailed from Long Beach to a shipyard in Hawaii for the reforms, where a big concern was to make it imponent, with three stories, without sacrificing actual seakeeping. Given Blackbeard was meant to be the meanest pirate to appear in the series, the look for the Queen Anne's Revenge was ominous, with sails dyed blood red, various elements on fire, and a decoration based on skulls and bones (drawing inspiration from the Sedlec Ossuary in Czech Republic). Damage from cannon fire was also added to show that "not only Blackbeard was a dying man, but his ship is also a dying ship". The ship's figurehead also drew inspiration from Blackbeard's pirate flag. The replica ship HMS Surprise was used for Barbossa's ship, the HMS Providence, and all the scenes aboard the Providence were shot on the Long Beach shore as the Surprise could not be sailed to Hawaii. Over 50 designs were considered for the Fountain of Youth, with the final one representing a temple built by an ancient civilization around the Fountain, which itself was located in a round rocky structure to represent "the circle of life". The locations leading up to the Fountain were shot in the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu, but the Fountain itself was built at the 007 Stage on Pinewood.

Effects

On Stranger Tides employed 1, 112 shots of computer-generated imagery, which were done by ten visual effects companies. Cinesite visual effects supervisor Simon Stanley-Clamp claimed that the most difficult part was doing the effects in 3D: "Rotoscoping is tricky. Cleaning up plates is double the work, and tracking has to be spot on. The lead companies, with over 300 effects each, were Industrial Light & Magic—responsible for, among others, the mermaids and most water effects—and Moving Picture Company, who created digital ships and environment extensions, such as changing weather and designing cliffs and waterfalls. Filming the mermaids involved eight model-actresses, who portrayed them outside the water, as well as 22 synchronized swimming athletes and a group of stuntwomen, both of whom wore motion capture suits to be later replaced by digital mermaids. Mermaid corpses were depicted by plaster models. The design tried to avoid the traditional representations of mermaids in paintings and literature, instead going for a scaly body with a translucent membrane inspired by both jellyfish and the fabric employed in ballet tutus. To make the mermaids more menacing underwater, the faces of the actresses had some digital touch-ups on the underwater scenes, adding sharper teeth and a shimmery fish scale quality on the skin. ILM also handled Blackbeard's death, where Ian McShane's actual performance was covered by digital doubles which turned him into a "boiling mass of blood and clothing", and a hurricane-like formation that represented "the waters of the Fountain taking his life". Cinesite handled the recreation of London and Barbossa's peg leg, CIS Hollywood did 3D corrections and minor shots, and Method Studios created matte paintings.
Music
Main article: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (soundtrack)
The film's score was written by Hans Zimmer, who had worked in all of the previous entries in the franchise; being the main composer for the second and third installments. Zimmer said that he tried to incorporate a rock n' roll sound, as he felt "pirates were the rock 'n' rollers of many, many years ago and Spanish elements, which led to a collaboration with Mexican guitarists Rodrigo y Gabriela and a tango song written by Penélope Cruz's brother Eduardo. American composer Eric Whitacre contributed several choir-based cues, as well as regular assistant Geoff Zanelli.

Release

Penélope Cruz and Johnny Depp promoting the film at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
On January 6, 2010, Disney announced that the film would be released in the United States and Canada on May 20, 2011, following Columbia Pictures' announcement of a delay in the Spider-Man reboot and Paramount Pictures slating Thor for May 6, 2011. The film was released in IMAX 3D, as well as traditional 2D and IMAX format, with Dolby 7.1 surround sound.
The world premiere of On Stranger Tides was on May 7, 2011, at a premium ticket screening at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, home of the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride that inspired the film series. Many of the film's stars were in attendance. Two other early screenings followed, one in Moscow on May 11, and another during the Cannes International Film Festival on May 14. The international release dates fell within May 18 and May 20, with opening dates in the United Kingdom on May 18, in Australia on May 19, and in North America on May 20. The film was released on a then-record 402 IMAX screens, 257 screens in North America, and 139 in other territories The total number of theaters was 4,155 in North America and 18,210 worldwide.
Promotion
Disney's marketing president, MT Carney, said that the film's advertising campaign was intended "to remind people of why they fell in love with Jack Sparrow in the first place and also introduce new elements in a way that was elegant". Sony Pictures' former marketing president, Valerie Van Galder, was hired as a consultant. The first footage from the film appeared on Entertainment Tonight on December 4, 2010. Three trailers were released, one in December, which had a 3D version included with the release of Tron: Legacy and broadcast by ESPN 3D; a Super Bowl XLV spot on February 2011, which was later released online in an extended version; and a final trailer in March that focused more on the plot than the previous trailer and commercials.
Promotional tie-ins included Lego Pirates of the Caribbean toy sets and a related video game, a cell phone app by Verizon Wireless, a special edition of Pirate's Booty, lines of nail polish by OPI, clothing from Hot Topic, and jewelry from Swarovski.[89] Goldline International produced replicas of the "Pieces of Eight" coins from the movies and gold Mexican Escudo coins, which were given in sweepstakes at the El Capitan Theatre. At Disney California Adventure Park, the Pira tes of the Caribbean segment of the World of Color show was extended to include visual clips and music from On Stranger Tides.