Captain Jack Sparrow is ready to set sail on the high seas yet again. During the premiere of Fear The Walking Dead this past Sunday, Disney released a sneak peak of the new film titled, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which is supposed to be released on May 26 of next year. Here’s what we know so far about the fifth installment to the franchise.
Many familiar faces, as well as some new ones, will be in this film. Johnny Depp is obviously back to reprise his role as Jack Sparrow and some of his other swashbuckling friends, including Captain Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush), are returning as well. Orlando Bloom is also coming back to the franchise after not being in the fourth Pirates film, On Stranger Tides. As for the new additions to the cast, the film’s new villain is Captain Salazar, played by Javier Bardem. Australian actor Brenton Thwaites is playing Henry, who is rumored to be Will and Elizabeth’s son. And lastly, Kaya Scodelario will take on the role of Carina Smyth, who is an astronomer. Smyth is also on the hunt for the trident of Poseidon and she holds the diary with the clues.
There have been numerous assumptions as to what the plot of the film will be. Walt Disney Pictures released a statement back in February 2015 explaining the details of the film. They stated, “Thrust into an all-new adventure, a down-on-his-luck Captain Jack Sparrow finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), escape from the Devil’s Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea…including him. Captain Jack’s only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas”. In typical Pirates of the Caribbean fashion, one thing the audience will probably expect is Jack Sparrow causing some trouble like he usually does.
In recent years, the Pirates films have been in a little bit of a slump. Reports have said that the release date had been changed a few times because they wanted to get it just right. A source says that “Disney wanted to make sure all of the elements were right before going forward because Pirates is such an important franchise for the studio”. The franchise is trying to revamp itself and in an interview with Digital Spy, Kaya Scodelario said, “[‘Pirates 5’ does have] a lot more of the first movie, that’s what they wanted to bring it back to. [The producers] want to take it back to the beginning again. They wanted it to have this epic journey, and for it to make sense, and for it to tie things up, and also lead to new storylines”. Maybe bringing the film back to its original roots will be a good idea. Who knows? The world will just have to wait until 2017 to find out.
Elizabeth Granato
Senior Features Editor