Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 American fantasy supernatural swashbuckler film directed by Gore Verbinski. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film is based on Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disney theme parks and is the first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. The film stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley. The story follows pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) and blacksmith Will Turner (Bloom) as they rescue the kidnapped Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) from the crew of the Black Pearl, captained by Hector Barbossa (Rush). Barbossa's crew attempts to retrieve the final pieces of a hoard of Aztec gold to break the curse laid on them when they stole it.

After Walt Disney Studios executives created a rough treatment in 2000, Jay Wolpert developed a script in 2001, and Stuart Beattie rewrote it in early 2002. Around that time, producer Jerry Bruckheimer became involved in the project; he brought in Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio to work on the script. Having previously pitched a premise in the 1990s, Elliott and Rossio added the plot device of a supernatural curse to bring the story in line with the original theme park ride. Gore Verbinski became involved as director afterwards. Filming took place from October 2002 to March 2003 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and on sets constructed around Los Angeles, California.

As the first film released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner to be rated PG-13 by the MPAA, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl had its world premiere at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California, on June 28, 2003. Defying low pre-release expectations, the film was a huge box-office success - it grossed $654.3 million worldwide, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2003. It received generally positive reviews from critics; Depp's performance received universal acclaim. The film has been widely cited as the film that launched Depp as a box-office leading man after many years as a cult movie star. Depp won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, in addition to Best Actor nominations at the Academy Awards, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes. The Curse of the Black Pearl was also nominated for four other Academy Awards and BAFTAs. The film became the first in a franchise, and was followed by four sequels: Dead Man's Chest (2006), At World's End (2007), On Stranger Tides (2011), and Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017).

PLOT

In 1720, Governor Weatherby Swann and his daughter, Elizabeth, sail aboard HMS Dauntless. Lieutenant Norrington's crew recovers a shipwrecked survivor, Will Turner. Elizabeth takes a gold medallion from around Will's neck before seeing a ship with black sails. Eight years later in Port Royal, Jamaica, Norrington is promoted to commodore and proposes to Elizabeth at Fort Charles. Elizabeth's corset makes her faint and fall into the water below, causing the medallion to emit a pulse. Captain Jack Sparrow, who initially arrived to "commandeer" a ship, rescues Elizabeth before escaping Commodore Norrington, who identifies Jack with his pirate brand. Will, now a blacksmith, meets Jack and fights long enough for Sparrow to be imprisoned.

That night, Port Royal is attacked by the Black Pearl, the ship Elizabeth Swann saw years earlier, searching for the medallion. Invoking parley, Elizabeth is taken aboard to meet Captain Barbossa. Although she gave her name as "Elizabeth Turner" to conceal her identity as the governor's daughter, Barbossa takes Elizabeth with them. Barbossa explains that the medallion is one of 882 Aztec gold pieces in a stone chest used to bribe Cortés to stop his slaughter, but because of Cortés's greed, the heathen gods placed a curse on the gold. Barbossa's crew found the treasure at Isla de Muerta, but after spending it, they feel and taste nothing, and turn into immortal undead skeletons in the moonlight. To lift the curse, Barbossa's crew must return all the gold with their blood. Having discovered that "Bootstrap Bill" Turner sent a piece to his child, Barbossa sent Bootstrap to the bottom of the ocean.[b] Assuming Elizabeth is Bootstrap's child, Barbossa intends to use her blood instead.

To save Elizabeth, Will frees Jack, who learns that Turner is the son of Bootstrap Bill. They distract Norrington with a staged attempt to steal the Dauntless, allowing them to commandeer the HMS Interceptor, then head to Tortuga to find Joshamee Gibbs and recruit a crew. Will learns from Gibbs that Sparrow was captain of the Black Pearl before Barbossa organized a mutiny and marooned him on an island. Arriving at Isla de Muerta, Jack and Will sneak into the treasure grotto, where Barbossa fails to lift the curse with Elizabeth's "Turner" blood. Will and Elizabeth escape with the medallion on the Interceptor, while Sparrow is captured by Barbossa and locked in the brig aboard the Pearl. A battle ensues between the Pearl and the Interceptor, with the crew captured and the ship destroyed. Having realized it is his blood Barbossa needs, Will surrenders himself to ensure Elizabeth's freedom. Barbossa agrees but maroons Jack and Elizabeth. The next morning, Elizabeth makes a smoke signal, then Jack and Elizabeth are rescued aboard the Dauntless. Elizabeth accepts Norrington's marriage proposal on the condition to rescue Will from Barbossa.

That night, Jack and Norrington make a plan to ambush the pirates at Isla de Muerta, but Norrington plans to ambush the pirates himself and Jack Sparrow convinces Barbossa to not lift the curse until after they've killed Norrington's men. Having anticipated the battle to come, Jack secretly palms a coin for himself to become immortal, then frees Will and duels Barbossa in the cave. As Norrington's crew battle skeletons aboard the Dauntless, Elizabeth sneaks off to free Jack's crew, who flee on the Pearl, leaving Swann to save Will and Jack by herself. After Elizabeth helps defeat some of Barbossa's crewmen, Sparrow shoots Barbossa just as Will returns both remaining coins with their blood into the chest, lifting the curse. Now mortal, Barbossa dies from Sparrow's gunshot, and the rest of Barbossa's crew are killed or surrendered.

At Port Royal, Will declares his love for Elizabeth, before rescuing Jack, who was about to be hanged. After a scuffle, Jack and Will are surrounded. Elizabeth stands by their side, choosing Turner over Norrington, who stands down. Sparrow falls into the water, then is rescued by the Black Pearl and her new crew. Norrington decides to give Sparrow "one day's head start" before pursuit. Governor Swann gives his blessings to Will and Elizabeth, while Jack Sparrow is made captain of the Pearl and sails off to the horizon. 

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

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.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

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.

3. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Lord Beckett gains power over Davy Jones and, with the help of the Flying Dutchman, he is 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.

4. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Captain Jack Sparrow is on a quest to find the fabled Fountain of Youth and crosses paths with a 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.

5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

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, aquatic animals and break curses.

BOX OFFICE

1. The Curse of the Black Pearl July 9, 2003 $654,264,015 - Budget: $140 million 

2. Dead Man's Chest July 7, 2006  $1,066,179,725 - Budget: $225 million 

3. At World's End May 25, 2007  $963,420,425 - Budget: $300 million 

4. On Stranger Tides May 20, 2011  $1,045,713,802 - Budget: $378.5 million 

5. Dead Men Tell No Tales May 26, 2017  $794,780,215 - Budget: $230 million 

Total Revenue: $4,524,358,182 - Budget $1.274 billion

Not bad!

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