Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Taglines: Captain Jack is back.

Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) discovers he owes a blood debt to the legendary Davey Jones, Captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman. With time running out, Jack must find a way out of his debt or else be doomed to eternal damnation and servitude in the afterlife. Making matters worse, Sparrow’s problems manage to interefere with the wedding plans of a certain Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), who are forced to join Jack on yet another one of his misadventures.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is a 2006 American fantasy swashbuckler film, the second installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). It was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. In the film, the wedding of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) is interrupted by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), who wants Turner to acquire the compass of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in a bid to find the Dead Man’s Chest. Sparrow discovers his debt to Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is due.

Two sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl were conceived in 2004, with Elliott and Rossio developing a story arc that would span both films. Filming took place from February to September 2005 in Palos Verdes, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, and The Bahamas, as well as on sets constructed at Walt Disney Studios. It was shot back-to-back with the third film of the series, At World’s End.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Dead Man’s Chest was released in the United States on July 7, 2006, and received mixed reviews, with praise for its special effects and criticism for its plot and running time. The film set several records in its first three days, with an opening weekend of $136 million in the United States, and it was, at the time, the fastest film ever to gross over $1 billion in the worldwide box office.

It currently ranks as the twentieth-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide and held the record as the highest-grossing film released by the Walt Disney Studios for nearly six years until it was surpassed by The Avengers (2012). The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and won the Academy Award for Visual Effects. Its sequel At World’s End was released the following year 2007.

Dead Man’s Chest earned $423,315,812 in the North America and $642,863,913 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1,066,179,725. Worldwide, it ranks as the twentieth-highest-grossing film, the ninth-highest-grossing film distributed by Disney, the highest-grossing 2006 film, the highest-grossing film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the highest-grossing film to star Johnny Depp and the highest-grossing second installment in a franchise. It is the third film in history to reach the $1 billion mark worldwide, and it reached the mark in record time (63 days), a record that has since been surpassed by many films, of which the first was Avatar (in January 2010).

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

In North America, the film broke many records including the largest opening- and single-day gross ($55.8 million), the biggest opening-weekend gross ($135.6 million), the least time to reach $100, $200 and $300 million[48] and the highest ten-day gross. However, most of them were broken by Spider-Man 3 in May 2007 and The Dark Knight in July 2008. The film was in first place at the box office for three consecutive weekends. Thus, in North America, it is the seventeenth-highest-grossing film, although, adjusted for inflation, the film ranks forty-eight. It is also the highest-grossing 2006 film, the highest-grossing Pirates of the Caribbean film, and the seventh-highest-grossing Disney film. The film sold an estimated 64,628,400 tickets in the US.

Outside North America, it is the twenty-first-highest-grossing film, the third-highest-grossing Pirates film, the eighth-highest-grossing Disney film and the highest-grossing film of 2006. It set opening-weekend records in Russia and the CIS, Ukraine, Finland, Malaysia, Singapore, Greece and Italy. It was on top of the box office outside North America for 9 consecutive weekends and 10 in total. It was the highest-grossing film of 2006 in Australia, Bulgaria, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and Thailand.

About the Story

The wedding of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann is halted when Lord Cutler Beckett, chairman of the East India Trading Company, arrives with arrest warrants for them, and also for Commodore James Norrington, who allowed Captain Jack Sparrow to escape. Norrington has resigned and disappeared after losing the Navy’s flagship, HMS Dauntless in a hurricane while pursuing Sparrow.

Jack Sparrow is visited by Will’s father Bootstrap Bill Turner, aboard the Black Pearl. Bootstrap is now a crewman on the Flying Dutchman, captained by Davy Jones. Jack previously bartered a deal with Jones to raise the Pearl from the depths. Now Jack must join Jones’ crew or be dragged to Davy Jones’ Locker by the Kraken. Beckett, meanwhile, promises to free Elizabeth if Will brings him Jack’s magic compass which points to whatever the holder wants most.

Will finds Jack and the crew on an island and frees them from cannibals. Shortly after, Governor Swann frees Elizabeth from jail, but he is then captured. Elizabeth bargains with Beckett to find the compass. Disguised as cabin boy aboard a Scottish merchant vessel, she makes her way to Tortuga where she later finds Jack and also a drunken Norrington. After escaping the cannibals, Jack and the crew visit voodoo priestess Tia Dalma, who reveals Jones’ weakness is his heart, which is locked within the Dead Man’s Chest. Jack must find it and the key that opens it.

Locating the Dutchman, Will makes a deal with Jack to find the key to the chest in return for Jack’s compass. Jack tricks Will, who is shanghaied into service aboard the Dutchman. Jones agrees to release Jack from their bargain in exchange for one hundred souls. Will meets his father aboard the Dutchman and learns that Jones possesses the key to the chest. They play a game of Liar’s Dice against Jones to try and win the key but they lose. Despite this, Will escapes with the key and is taken aboard the same ship Elizabeth was on. Jones sends the Kraken after him, sinking the ship, but Will escapes.

In Tortuga, Jack hires a new crew, including Elizabeth and Norrington. With Elizabeth’s use of Jack’s compass, they are able to locate the chest. All parties arrive on Isla Cruces, where the chest is buried, but a three-way sword fight breaks out between Jack, Will, and Norrington, who all want the heart for their respective goals: Jack wants to call off the Kraken, Will wants to rescue his father, and Norrington wants to regain his life as a Navy officer. In the chaos, Norrington secretly steals the heart and runs off pretending to lure away the Dutchman’s crew. Jones attacks the Pearl with the Kraken, which devours most of the crew and destroys all but one of the Pearl’s lifeboats, but Jack, who briefly flees the battle, returns and wounds the Kraken with a net full of explosives.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Movie Poster (2006)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Stellan Skarsgård, Bill Nighy, Jack Davenport, Kevin R. McNally, Jonathan Pryce, Naomie Harris, Tom Hollander
Screenplay by: Terry Rossio, Ted Elliot
Production Design by: Rick Heinrichs
Cinematography by: Dariusz Wolski
Film Editing by: Stephen E. Rivkin, Craig Wood
Costume Design by: Penny Rose
Set Decoration by: Cheryl Carasik
Art Direction by: Bruce Crone, John Dexter, William Hawkins, William Ladd Skinner
Music by: Hans Zimmer
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of adventure violence, including frightening images.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: July 6, 2006

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