10 Things You Never Knew About Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
From almost-Hugh Jackman to lawsuit chaos, the swashbuckling hit was a messy miracle.
Johnny Depp during the Paris premiere of Public Enemies at the cinema UGC Normandie. — nicogenin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Where to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl ↓Hugh Jackman Almost Stole Jack Sparrow
Stuart Beattie first wrote Jack Sparrow with Hugh Jackman in mind, but Disney went with Johnny Depp instead because Jackman was not yet well known outside Australia.
Depp's First Table Read Terrified Everyone
At the first table read Johnny Depp shocked the cast and crew with an unexpectedly eccentric take on Jack Sparrow. He had researched 18th-century pirates and based the swagger on Keith Richards.
Disney Thought Depp Was Ruining The Movie
Executives were alarmed by Depp's portrayal and some even asked if the character was drunk or gay. Michael Eisner went so far as to declare Depp was ruining the film.
Robert De Niro Said No To Barbossa
Robert De Niro turned down the role of Barbossa because he thought the film would flop like other pirate movies that came before it.
The Pitch Was Rejected In The 90s
After finishing Aladdin, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio pitched a pirate film based on the Disneyland ride to studio execs in the early 1990s, but they were rejected at the time.
The Curse Was Jerry Bruckheimer's Idea
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer suggested adding a supernatural curse as the central plot, an idea inspired by the narration from the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
Eisner Tried To Kill Production
After The Country Bears flopped, Michael Eisner attempted to shut down production, but changed his mind after Gore Verbinski showed him the concept art.
Verbinski Made It For His Inner Kid
Gore Verbinski directed the film partly as a tribute to his childhood memories of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, which he remembered as scary yet funny.
The Subtitle Made Verbinski Grumble
The subtitle The Curse of the Black Pearl was added to the script against Verbinski's protest, since he correctly noted the Aztec gold was cursed, not the ship itself.
Disney Got Sued Six Times
Disney faced at least six plagiarism lawsuits over the first Pirates film, with claims it borrowed elements from The Secret of Monkey Island video game series and Tim Powers' novel On Stranger Tides.