Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)

Pirates of the Caribbean
Directed by	Gore Verbinski (1–3) Rob Marshall (4) Joachim Rønning (5) Espen Sandberg (5)
Produced by	Jerry Bruckheimer
Screenplay by	Ted Elliott (1–4) Terry Rossio (1–4) Jeff Nathanson (5)
Story by	Ted Elliot (1, 4) Terry Rossio (1–5) Stuart Beattie (1) Jay Wolpert (1) Jeff Nathanson (5)
Based on	Pirates of the Caribbean by Walt Disney (1–5) On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers (4)
Starring	Johnny Depp Geoffrey Rush Kevin R. McNally Orlando Bloom (1–3, 5) Keira Knightley (1–3, 5) Jack Davenport (1–3) Jonathan Pryce (1–3) Bill Nighy (2–3) Stellan Skarsgård (2–3) Tom Hollander (2–3) Chow Yun-fat (3) Penélope Cruz (4) Ian McShane (4) Javier Bardem (5) Brenton Thwaites (5) Kaya Scodelario (5) (see below)
Music by	Klaus Badelt (1) Hans Zimmer (1–4) Rodrigo y Gabriela (4) Eric Whitacre (4) Geoff Zanelli (5)
Production company	Walt Disney Pictures Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date	The Curse of the Black Pearl: July 9, 2003 Dead Man's Chest: July 7, 2006 At World's End: May 25, 2007 On Stranger Tides: May 20, 2011 Dead Men Tell No Tales: May 26, 2017
Running time	726 minutes (1–5)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	Total (5 films): $1.274 billion
Box office	Total (5 films): $4,411,134,207

Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy swashbuckler films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and based on Walt Disney's theme park ride of the same name.

Directors of the series include Gore Verbinski (1–3), Rob Marshall (4), and Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (5). The series is primarily written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (1–4); other writers include Stuart Beattie (1), Jay Wolpert (1), and Jeff Nathanson (5). The stories follow the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley). Characters such as Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally) follow Jack, Will, and Elizabeth in the course of the films. The fourth film features Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and Angelica (Penélope Cruz), while the fifth film features Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem), Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) and Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario). The films take place in a fictional historical setting; a world ruled by the British Empire, the East India Trading Company (based on the real East India Company), and the Spanish Empire, with pirates representing freedom from the ruling powers.

The film series started in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which received positive reviews from the critics and grossed US$654 million worldwide.^[1] After the first film's success, Walt Disney Pictures revealed that a trilogy was in the works. The franchise's second film, subtitled Dead Man's Chest, was released three years later in 2006; the sequel proved successful, breaking financial records worldwide the day of its premiere. Dead Man's Chest ended up being the number one film of the year upon earning almost $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office. The third film in the series, subtitled At World's End, followed in 2007, and Disney released a fourth film, subtitled On Stranger Tides, in 2011 in conventional 2D, Digital 3-D and IMAX 3D. On Stranger Tides succeeded in also grossing more than $1 billion,^[1] becoming the second film in the franchise and only the eighth film in history to achieve this.

The franchise has grossed $4.4 billion worldwide;^[1] it is the ninth highest-grossing film series of all-time and it was the first franchise where more than one film grossed $1 billion worldwide.