Pirates of the Caribbean Facts

On Stranger Tides (Cont. 2)

~Blackbeard's ship, The Queen Anne's Revenge, is actually a modified version of The Black Pearl, one of the vital ships in the series. The Sunset, as it is called in real life, was used in the latter two parts of the first trilogy and in 2010 redesigned to portray the Queen Anne's Revenge in this installment. The biggest change was above deck. The back was cut off to deck level and rebuilt again in two stories.

~ As in the previous "Pirates" movies, Barbossa's penchant for apples is glimpsed in this one as well--this time, he treats himself to an apple wedge at his captain's table aboard the Providence.

~ The film budget had to be scaled down to no more than $200 million (the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End budget was close to $250 million). This was mandated by studio president Rich Ross (who replaced the fired Dick Cook) in addition to the then 2008 economic slowdown in the US

~ The title was revealed by Johnny Depp, in character as  Captain Jack Sparrow, at Disney's D23 Expo on September 11, 2009.

~ This film is loosely based on the 1988 pirate novel 'On Stranger Tides', by Tim Powers . The novel's protagonist is a pirate named Jack, but his character is significantly different from Jack Sparrow. (How about completely different?)

~ Megan Fox was considered for the role of Syrena.

~In May 2010, Disney announced that this movie will be filmed using 3-D cameras. The special effects, however, will be rendered in 2-D then converted to 3-D to keep the budget lower.

~ Disney's Head of Production Oren Aviv said that this would "hopefully be the first of another trilogy." (I am afraid to disappoint, but that is very unlikely.)

~ Barbossa's ship, the Providence, was portrayed by the HMS Surprise, part of the collection of ships of the Maritime Museum of San Diego (www.sdmaritime.org), where it is open daily to Museum visitors. To sail the ship during the filming, Disney hired a crew from among volunteers and staff of the Maritime Museum. Surprise is a 179' full-rigged ship. She was built in Nova Scotia in 1970 from original Admiralty plans for the 1757 British 24-gun frigate HMS Rose, for which she was originally named. The ship was purchased in 2001 by 20th Century Fox and modified to serve as the HMS Surprise, under the command of fictional Captain Jack Aubrey in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). The Maritime Museum of San Diego purchased the ship from Fox Studios in 2004, and retained her movie name. In both of her names the prefix "HMS" (meaning Her (or His) Majesty's Ship) is an honorary rather than an official designation, since she does not hold a royal warrant.

~ Alfred Molina was considered for the role of Blackbeard.