Avast ye, landlubbers — here be pirates.
Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movies were a gamble (a movie based on a theme park ride?) on top of a gamble (a pirate movie in the year 2003, really?) on top of a gamble (Johnny Depp doing a Keith Richards impression?) that became a worldwide sensation and defined the mid-2000s. The Curse of the Black Pearl was soon followed by back-to-back entries with Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End. The iconic characters, the rich mythos, the sweeping score, and the swashbuckling sword fights grabbed audiences by the rigging back then and never quite let go.
I guess you could say we’ve chosen the pirates’ life.
While the fourth and fifth films, 2011’s On Stranger Tides and 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales, sizzled out stateside, they still brought in that box office booty around the world, meaning that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is far from the depths of Davy Jones’ Locker. Based on reports from this year, a direct Pirates 6 sequel is in the works, and newly revealed side-quel starring Margot Robbie on the horizon. WIth all the good movies now on Disney Plus now (and without much else in theaters), this was the perfect time to, take the helm and set sail to plunder the rich expanse of this franchise.
What treasures shall we find in these pirate-infested waters? Grab your cutlass, hoist the colors, and let’s find out.