The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise really is every pirates’ dream – because it struck a whole lot of gold at the box office.
When the first film in the series – The Curse of the Black Pearl – premiered back in 2003, it went on to spark one of the most famous and commercially successful film franchises of all time.
The megabucks pirate franchise – which spans five films and almost 20 years – has grossed a whopping $4.5 billion worldwide – and is the 14th highest-grossing film series of all time – talk about a hearty loot!
Like a canon on Captain Jack Sparrow’s pirate ship, it also went on to launch Johnny Depp’s career as a leading actor in Hollywood after his previous success as a cult film star before he joined ‘ship’ as a castmate.
The Curse of the Black Pearl wasn’t just a treasure chest of profit though, as it also gained a stack of nominations at the Oscars and BAFTAs.
In the Curse of the Black Pearl, we meet the drunk and eccentric Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) who teams up with blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) in order to save Turner’s beloved Elizabeth Swann from a hoard of cursed pirates who turn into skeletons at night.
To mark almost 18 years since The Curse of the Black Pearl had its maiden voyage in the cinemas on July 9 2003, Daily Star has found where the original cast of A-List stars went next.
We hope you’re brave enough, because with heated court wars and high-profile divorces, it’s a bit of a bumpy ride.
Johnny Depp – Captain Jack Sparrow
Handsome Johnny Depp, 69, is of course one of the most critically and commercially successful Hollywood actors of all time.
His time as Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates movie cemented him as a box office leading man – he bagged himself a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance as well as Best Actor nominations at the Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes.
He enjoyed a huge run of commercial success throughout the 2000s after smashing frontman roles in Finding Neverland (2004), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd (2007) and Alice in Wonderland (2010).
In 2012, Depp was even listed as the world’s highest-paid actor in the Guinness Book of World Records with reported earnings of $75 million.
However, in his personal life, Johnny was to find himself at the centre of a bitter court battle with his ex-wife Amber Heard after their relationship turned destructive.
After tying the knot in 2015, Heard filed for divorce in May 2016 and obtained a temporary restraining order against Depp – claiming in her court declaration she had been physically and verbally abused by Depp throughout their relationship.
Depp denied the claims and alleged she was trying to secure a “premature financial solution” before a settlement was reached in August 2016, and the pair finalised the divorce in 2017.
In June 2018, the legal battles flared up even more when Depp issued a libel lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN) – and The Sun – which had called him a “wife-beater” in a 2018 article.
The case became a worldwide trial in July 2020 and the High Court ruled on the balance of probabilities that he assaulted his ex-wife – with Depp strenuously denying the claims – and his appeal to overturn the verdict was rejected by the Court of Appeal in March this year.
Back in early 2019, Depp sued Heard for defamation over an opinion piece she wrote about her experiences of leaving an abusive relationship – published by the Washington Post in December 2018.
Depp alleged that Heard had in fact been the abuser and that her allegations were a hoax – with Heard denying Depp’s claims. The case is scheduled to go ahead in April 2022.
In 2014, Amber was still Johnny’s fiancé when she fell victim to the iCloud nude leaks of celebrity photos, where tons of images of stars were published on sites like 4Chan and Reddit.
Geoffrey Rush – Captain Barbossa
Geoffrey has become famous for his role as the villain in The Curse of the Black Pearl, starring as an undead pirate leader, Captain Barbossa.
However, he’s not just a pirate as he’s also renowned as an acting great and is among just 24 people who have won what they call the Triple Crown of Acting – an Oscar for film, a PrimeTime Emmy award for television, and a Tony for theatre.
Like Johnny Depp and others in the cast, 69-year-old Rush reprised his role in the later Pirates films, but he’s also worked with titan directors like Steven Spielberg on historical thriller Munich (2005) and The Book Thief (2013).
In television, he bagged his Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a Limited Series for his role of Peter Sellers in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2003).
But he also loves the stage and he received his Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his time in Exit the King (2009).
The Australian was also appointed Australia’s highest civilian honour – a Companion of the Order of Australia – for his service to the arts in 2014.
Orlando Bloom – Will Turner
Orlando played the romantic blacksmith in the first movie, who reluctantly joins forces with Jack Sparrow to rescue his love Elizabeth (Keira Knightley).
44-year-old Orlando was already a star before Pirates – given his breakthrough success as Legolas in the iconic Lord of the Rings films which finished in the same year as the first Pirates film.
He went on to enjoy a big run of success in big Hollywood flicks such as Troy (2004) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005), before gracing the stage in a Broadway adaption of Romeo and Juliet in 2013.
He’s also a campaigner and in 2015 the handsome star received the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award.
Away from the screen, Bloom began a power couple romance when he started dating gorgeous singer, Katy Perry in 2016.
Despite the pair splitting a year later, they’ve been going strength to strength since they picked things up in 2018 and tied the knot on Valentine’s Day in 2019.
Katy even revealed they were expecting their first child with Orlando in a music video – for a song titled Never Worn White – and mum Katy gave birth to a lovely little girl on 26 August 2020.
Keira Knightley – Elizabeth Swann
Stunner Keira Knightley gained global stardom as a teen star for playing Elizabeth Swann in the Pirates of the Caribbean.
The bombshell had quite the year in 2003 because she also starred in the classic Christmas rom-com Love Actually alongside acting greats like Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson.
Her success didn’t let up after that as she secured an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennett in the fancy period romance Pride & Prejudice (2005).
After becoming the third-youngest Best Actress nominee ever at the time, she entered a hot streak of more major hits including Atonement (2007), The Duchess (2008), Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) and The Imitation Game (2014).
Keira has faced some turbulent times in her personal life and in 2018 she revealed she’d had a mental breakdown at the age of 22 – before being subsequently diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
She explained how she believed her PTSD battle came after struggling to adjust with her rise to fame, and at one point she apparently did not leave the house for three months.
She even had hypnotherapy to prevent her from having panic attacks so that she could attend the BAFTA Awards in the year she was nominated for her acting in Atonement.
The mum-of-two tied the knot with her musician husband James Righton in February 2011.
They share their daughters Edie, born in May 2015, and Delilah, born in September 2019.
Zoe Saldana – Anamaria
43-year-old Zoe played pirate Anamaria in the first Pirates film.
Since confronting Jack Sparrow, she’s gone on to secure a sparklingly successful acting career as the only actress to be in three of the top five grossing movies of all time – with her films grossing more than $11 billion worldwide.
She’s famous for her role as Nyota in the contemporary Star Trek films, but she’s also starred in James Cameron’s groundbreaking film Avatar (2009) which won a jaw-dropping three Oscars and was nominated for nine Academy Awards in total.
But Marvel fans might know her from her time in Avengers movies – Infinity War and Endgame.
Zoe’s love life has also been star-studded as she dated actor Bradley Cooper from December 2011 to January 2013.
Zoe is also a mum-of-three and married Italian artist Marco Perego in London back in 2013.
Jonathan Pryce – Governor Weatherby
Theatre legend Jonathan Pryce, 74, played Governor Weatherby Swann in Curse of the Black Pearl.
But if you’re a Game of Thrones fan, you might already know Jonathan from his time as the ominous High Sparrow in the blockbuster fantasy series between 2015 and 2016.
Pryce has achieved a truly remarkable acting career on the stage as well as on the screen – with a back catalogue of Tony Awards and an Olivier award for his theatre work.
He has also plucked himself a two Primetime Emmy Award nominations and earlier this year he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama.
Talking of royals, he is also set to play the late Prince Philip in the final two seasons of the award-winning Netflix drama series The Crown – and will replace Tobias Menzies in the role.
He is a dad to three children – Patrick, Gabriel, and Phoebe – who were all grown up now as they were born in the 80s and 90s respectively.
He married actress Kate Fahy in 2015 after a long-term relationship that spanned decades.
The pair now live in London after meeting all the way back in 1972 whilst Pryce was working at the Everyman Theatre.
Mackenzie Crook – Ragetti
Mackenzie played the goofy character of Ragetti in the first film and in the sequels – and he provides a lot of laughs during the movie.
However, he’s no stranger to a big fantasy flick and he starred as Orell in Game of Thrones during 2013 alongside his former Pirates castmate Jonathan Pryce.
He’s perhaps most famous for his time as the eccentric paper-company employee of Gareth in The Office alongside show creator Ricky Gervais.
The iconic show aired between 2001 and 2003 – the same year as the Black Pearl came out.
49-year-old Mackenzie is a man of many talents and has also directed and starred in BBC Four comedy Detectorists – which first aired in 2014.
The show stars a pair of lovable metal-detecting enthusiasts – and Crook earned a British Television Craft Award for his writing on the series in 2015.
The series also won a BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy, and a Christmas special aired in December that year.
In 2007, Mackenzie also had a run-in with legendary musician Paul McCartney when he starred alongside Natalie Portman as a postman for the single Dance Tonight.
Kevin R. McNally – Joshamee Gibbs
65-year-old Kevin McNally starred as Joshamee Gibbs – Jack Sparrow’s friend and first mate.
He’s one of the only actors to have appeared in every one of the five Pirates of the Caribbean films.
However, he’s sailed on to other screen-related successes because he played the character of Frank in the US television series Supernatural in 2011.
Kevin has also enjoyed various stints in the video game industry, having performed as a voice actor in the best selling video game Assassin’s Creed III.
You’ll also find him in Downton Abbey as Horace Bryant from his time in the period drama from 2011 to 2012.
McNally married fellow actress Phyllis Logan in 2011 after the pair met back in 1994.
The couple lives in Chiswick and they share a son, David, who was born in 1996.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk