New “On Stranger Tides Revealed” – PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES Pod #1 & Poster

Love Hans Zimmer’s rousing score! Walt Disney Records will release the soundtrack for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides May 17, 2011. Check out the new one-sheet poster from the film courtesy of our friends over at IGN.

PIRATES 4 FUN FACTS:

• In “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” Johnny Depp reprises his iconic role of Jack Sparrow in his greatest adventure yet—a quest to find the legendary Fountain of Youth.
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the previous three films in the “Pirates” franchise, and is directed by Rob Marshall of “Chicago” and “Memoirs of a Geisha” fame.
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is the first film in the “Pirates” franchise to be shot in Disney Digital 3D™, and the first all live-action, epic outdoor adventure shot on Red 3D cameras.

• New characters add to the fun of the all-new story of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”: Blackbeard (Ian McShane), the ultimate pirate villain; Angelica (Penélope Cruz), a con-artist from Jack Sparrow’s past; Syrena( Astrid Bergès-Frisbey), the mystical mermaid; and Philip (Sam Claflin), the young mysterious missionary.
• Spanish actress Penélope Cruz, who plays Angelica, brings pirate equality to the screen as she portrays a character every bit as adventurous, tricky and cunning as Captain Jack Sparrow—with whom she shares a colorful past.
• Bringing legendary, fearsome pirate Blackbeard to life in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is versatile actor Ian McShane, known for his Golden Globe®–winning performance in “Deadwood.”

• For the fourth time, Geoffrey Rush reprises his role as Captain Hector Barbossa in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.” Barbossa, Jack Sparrow’s nemesis, is a master swordsman and uncompromising pirate who sees himself as a man of honor despite his vocation. Until the last fim in the series, “At World’s End,” Barbossa’s first name, Hector,  was never uttered by any of the characters.
• Though a well-known actress in France, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey makes her U.S. film debut in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” in the role of the mystical mermaid Syrena.
• Although she spent more than two months in Hawaii, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey was not permitted to have fun in the sun on her days off…as the unearthly mermaid known as Syrena, she had to maintain her pale complexion.
• Sam Claflin, who plays the young missionary Philip, is from the U.K. and attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
• Keith Richards returns in a cameo as Captain Teague, Jack Sparrow’s father, in the fourth installment of the “Pirates” franchise.
• Australian Gemma Ward, who plays Tamara, one of the eight mermaids in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” began modeling at age 14 and has already graced over 20 Vogue covers.
• World-class competitive surfer Tamayo Perry was one of six Hawaiian Queen Anne’s Revenge crewmen cast by director Rob Marshall. But this wasn’t Tamayo Perry’s first brush with Walt Disney Studios. He was a surfing double in the film, as well as one of the title character’s competitors, in the studio’s 1999 “Johnny Tsunami.”
• Although Yuki Matsuzaki is the first Japanese actor to portray a pirate in the “Pirates” series, he’s not the first from his country to play a pirate in a Walt Disney Pictures live-action movie. That honor belongs to Sessue Hayakawa, who played the leader of a pirate band attacking the heroes in 1960’s “Swiss Family Robinson.”

• “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” represents production designer John Myhre’s fifth collaboration with director Rob Marshall. Myhre was honored with Academy Awards® for Best Achievement in Art Direction for both “Chicago” and “Memoirs of a Geisha.”
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” appropriately enough for a pirate movie, shot on five different islands: Kauai, Oahu, Puerto Rico, Palominito (a small island off the island’s east coast), and although of a distinctly non-tropical nature, Great Britain.
• “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” is the biggest movie to ever film at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, shooting more of the complex than any previous production.
• In England, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” shot on three of the most important historic sites: the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, Hampton Court Palace and Middle Temple in The City.
• While filming in the vast environs of the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kauai, as well as the Coco Palms Hotel in Wailua, the long distances between base camp and the night shooting locations were marked by the Location department the Hawaiian way…with tiki torches lighting the pathways!
• While filming in the thick coconut grove at the famed and now shuttered Coco Palms Hotel in Wailua—where Elvis once sang “Blue Hawaii” for the movie of that title—773 coconut palms were harvested to prevent the heavy fruits from falling on the hapless heads of cast and crew. The harvested coconuts were taken away by local residents to take full advantage of the meat and milk of the tropical fruits.
• The fully functional Queen Anne’s Revenge is the first historical ship to be represented in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film franchise.
• The Fountain of Youth, a legendary spring whose water was rumored to return youth to anyone who drank it, was the object of an intense, but futile, search by Spanish explorer Ponce de León in the 1500s.  Now it’s up to Jack Sparrow to find the magical spring in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”  But homage is paid to Ponce de León in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, California—a model skeleton represents him in the stateroom set.
• It was reported in mid-January 2011 that a team of archaeologists discovered fragments of Blackbeard’s sword while excavating his flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, off the coast of North Carolina (where it ran aground in the 18^th century).  The real Sword of Triton, perhaps?

Synopsis:

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Rob Marshall, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES captures the fun, adventure and humor that ignited the hit franchise—this time in Disney Digital 3D™. Johnny Depp returns to his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in an action-packed adventure. Crossing paths with the enigmatic Angelica (Penelope Cruz), he’s not sure if it’s love—or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the “Queen Anne’s Revenge,” the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know whom to fear more: Blackbeard or Angelica, with whom he shares a mysterious past. The international cast includes franchise vets Geoffrey Rush as the vengeful Captain Hector Barbossa and Kevin R. McNally as Captain Jack’s longtime comrade Joshamee Gibbs, plus Sam Claflin as a stalwart missionary and Astrid Berges-Frisbey as a mysterious mermaid.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES is written by PIRATES veterans Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, suggested by the novel by Tim Powers. The executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Barry Waldman, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio and John DeLuca.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES sails into theatres around the world on May 20, 2011. Click HERE to see WAMG’s coverage of Disney’s “Pirates Fans First” Event from December.

Official website: Disney.com/Pirates. “Like” Pirates on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PiratesoftheCaribbean

SKULL FUN FACTS :

The iconic Skull representing “The Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise has undergone yet another transformation for the latest film, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

• The mysterious “X” scar on the left side of the face
• New beads
• A pearl in the gold front tooth
• Blond streaks in the hair
• Skeletons hanging from the last trinket on the beaded dreadlock
• A hidden “Mickey” on the left dreadlock
• Swimming mermaids engraved on the  hand guard of the right sword
• The Skull features the signature red bandana Captain Jack Sparrow wore in all the films of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film franchise. Red was a popular color with pirates, who preferred more colorful dress. It was also a color synonymous with “giving no quarter” to enemies as exemplified by flying a red Jolly Roger flag when engaging a foe at sea.
• The crossed swords, or pirates’ cutlasses, have a special meaning: When the crossed swords face upward, they signify readiness for battle. When the swords point downward, they signify the end of conflict. Down-pointing crossed swords are a common military symbol on graves or memorials signifying death in battle. On the teaser poster the swords are pointing downward.