Depp in Shanghai with new Pirates edition

Captain Jack Sparrow is back with the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will be released in the United States, China and other parts of the world on May 26.

Johnny Depp, who plays the antihero Jack Sparrow, arrived at the Shanghai Disney Resort on May 11, accompanied by other members of the cast, including Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom for the movie's global premiere in China. Many fans of the 14-year-old franchise waited outside the Walt Disney Theater at the resort to catch a glimpse of the stars.

Dead Men Tell No Tales is a new story of the high seas infused with fantasy, humor and action.

With the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003, came the dawn of Jerry Bruckheimer's most successful franchise, one of the most successful film series in the history of Disney Studios.

The first film was followed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). The four films have together made more than $3.7 billion so far.

In the latest film, Jack Sparrow feels the heat when Captain Salazar, played by Bardem, and his ghost sailors escape Devil's Triangle in a bid to kill him and the other pirates.

Jack Sparrow's only hope of survival lies in the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it he must forge an uneasy alliance with Carina Smyth, an astronomer, played by British actress Kaya Scodelario, and Henry, a headstrong young sailor in the Royal Navy. Australian actor Brenton Thwaites is cast as the young sailor.

The movie is directed by Norwegian filmmakers Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, both known for their epic based on real-life ocean exploration, Kon-Tiki, and for Marco Polo on Netflix.

For the directors, the opportunity to be part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was a dream come true.

"It's the kind of movie we grew up with and love," says Sandberg.

Ronning adds: "We knew that trying to do something original with the fifth installment was going to be a challenge, but that was important to us."

The movie was shot in Australia.

"I guess it's been a pirate's life for all of us," says producer Bruckheimer of the franchise's years.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/18/2017 page20)