Trivia / Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

• Actor-Inspired Element: Jack Sparrow was written as a far more lowbrow character; very suave and serious. Johnny Depp opted to play him more as a Keith Richards type. He also had the idea that Jack would have gold teeth.
• Billing Displacement: Keira Knightley is the fourth billed of the leads, due to being the only unrecognisable name at the time - when Elizabeth is a more prominent character than Barbossa (who does not appear until nearly forty minutes in).
• Completely Different Title: Called Ghost Ship: The Curse of the Haunted Pirate Ship in Taiwan.
• Creator Backlash: Zoe Saldaña does not look back on her role as Annamaria fondly. Not due to the film itself, but rather the bad experiences she had on set, describing the production as "chaotic" and "out of control" due to poor management. She says the experience almost made her quit acting altogether—and thus opted not to return for the sequels. Though years later, producer Jerry Bruckheimer later apologized to her for her terrible on set experience.
• Deleted Scene: Jack and Will's arrival in Tortuga was originally longer and featured more allusions to the park ride, including the mayor being dunked in a well.
• Directed by Cast Member: In the Latin American Spanish dub, Ricardo Tejedo is the ADR Director as well as the voice of Jack Sparrow.
• DVD Commentary: There are a couple of commentaries, but the one with Keira Knightley and Jack Davenport (more of the former than the latter) is hilarious. Sadly it's only on selected scenes and not the entire movie. It's rather priceless for the moment where he realizes he didn't understand a significant plot point: He's stunned to find out that when the water ripples when Elizabeth faints and falls into the ocean, that the medallion is "calling" to the Black Pearl and it's what makes it appear later.
  Keira: What exactly did you think it was?
  Jack: I thought the film skipped!
  • "Oh, mini-me! Mini-me! Mini-Orlando! Look at that cleavage!" A particularly amusing exchange happens when Elizabeth is running from the pirates in the governer's mansion; Keira Knightley explains that a shot showing her running up stairs practically killed her because she wasn't prepared, having expected her stunt double to do it. After Jack Davenport incredulously asks "You need a stunt girl to run up some stairs," she responds, in an extremely posh voice, "Yes, excuse me, yes, I am extremely lazy!"
  • Given how Davenport laments his (sexy, sexy) very ornate Naval costumes and how much more fun all the scruffy pirates were having, one wonders, given his character's rather extreme make-under in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, if the writers were listening.
  • During the scene where character Norrington is made a Commodore of the British Navy, Davenport comments "how can one man be wearing that much brocade and not be classified as a Mardi Gras float?"
  • He then laments losing so much screen time to better-looking actors. One particular scene required some complicated ceremonial swordwork. "I practiced for weeks with that, and I'm in the background of your shot!"
• Fake Brit:
  • Lee Arenberg does a pretty decent cockney accent as Pintel.
  • Australian Geoffrey Rush doing a typical "pirate" voice, implying that Barbossa originates from somewhere in the British Isles.
  • American Johnny Depp gives Jack an Estuary accent, drawing inspiration from Keith Richards.
  • American actor Martin Klebba as Marty the dwarf pirate.
• Fake Nationality: Zoe Saldaña affects an ambiguously Afro-Caribbean accent for Anamaria.
• Follow the Leader: Came out after another throwback to a dormant period genre film Gladiator. The Nostalgia Chick pointed out how both also were gritty in style but having a supernatural veneer. Not to mention the musical pieces they have that often get compared to each other.
• He Also Did: One of the writers for this movie was Jay Wolpert who is better known in the game show community as a creator of off-the-wall or just plain weird shows.
• Real-Life Relative: Ricardo Tejedo, the Latin American Spanish voice of Jack Sparrow, is the son of Eduardo Tejedo, who voiced Ragetti in that dub.
• Real Life Writes the Hairstyle: Keira Knightley had to wear hair extensions for the film, as she was coming off Bend It Like Beckham.
• Saved from Development Hell:
  • The script was originally written back in The '90s, when screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio began to think of a supernatural spin on the pirate genre. Steven Spielberg got ahold of it and wanted to direct with either Steve Martin, Bill Murray or Robin Williams playing Jack Sparrow, but following the failure of Cutthroat Island and the disappointing performance of Muppet Treasure Island, Disney decided not to make the film.
  • In 2001, Jay Wolpert was hired to write a script based on the ride. The version was based on a story created by the executives Brigham Taylor, Michael Haynes, and Josh Harmon and featured Will Turner as a prison guard who releases Jack to rescue Elizabeth, who is being held for ransom money by Captain Blackheart. Stuart Beattie was brought in to rewrite the script in March 2002, because of his knowledge of piracy. That month, Elliott and Rossio came aboard and suggested making a supernatural curse—as described in the opening narration of the ride. Gore Verbinski was brought in to direct in May. Principal photography began on October 9, 2002 and wrapped by March 7, 2003.
• Star-Making Role: Although she'd gotten attention with The Hole and Bend It Like Beckham, this brought Keira Knightley to international attention. It also had the effect of typecasting her as a Spirited Young Lady in period films. She initially tried to avoid this with projects like The Jacket, Domino and King Arthur (2004)—but eventually she gave in and got nominated for an Oscar in Pride & Prejudice (2005).
• Throw It In!:
  • Jack's Catchphrase "savvy" was frequently ad-libbed by Johnny Depp. As was the last line of the movie, "Bring me that horizon."
  • Will imitating Jack was likewise Orlando Bloom's idea and he asked producers if he could put it in.
  • "Human hair — from my back". The latter half was not scripted, and you can see Orlando Bloom and Kevin McNally Corpsing in response.
  • Jack the monkey smiling after Barbossa thanks him for returning the medallion? Complete fluke and was not planned out in any way.
• Unbuilt Casting Type: Here in her breakout role, Keira Knightley plays a Spirited Young Lady who ends up on a pirate ship and is proved to be Not So Above It All. Her Proper Lady qualities are also played for plenty of laughs. She almost feels like she's parodying the various coming of age ladies she'd be typecast as.
• Underage Casting: Keira Knightley was just seventeen at the time but Older Than They Look.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Hugh Jackman was the first choice for the role of Captain Jack Sparrow before Johnny Depp was cast, but Disney turned him down as he wasn't considered a bankable leading star at the time.
    • Jim Carrey was also approached for the part of Jack Sparrow, but turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with Bruce Almighty.
    • Matthew McConaughey, Christopher Walken, Michael Keaton, Rik Mayall and Cary Elwes were considered for the role of Jack Sparrow as well before the casting of Depp.
  • Heath Ledger was the runner-up for the part of Will Turner before the casting of Orlando Bloom.
    • Tobey Maguire, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale and Jude Law were also considered for Will Turner before the casting of Bloom.
  • Sophia Myles was the second choice for Elizabeth Swann before Keira Knightley was cast.
    • Amanda Bynes, Jessica Alba and Jaimie Alexander were considered for Elizabeth Swann as well before the casting of Knightley.
  • Robert De Niro was initially offered the part of Captain Hector Barbossa before the casting of Geoffrey Rush. However, De Niro turned it down as he thought the movie wouldn't be successful at the box office. De Niro would later regret his decision after the film's success and accepted the role of Captain Shakespeare in Stardust.
  • At the earliest stages of production in the 90s, Steven Spielberg was interested in directing, with Bill Murray, Steve Martin or Robin Williams in mind for Captain Jack Sparrow, but Disney didn't have faith in this vision and shelved the project until the early 2000s.
  • Johnny Depp apparently lobbied hard for Jack to have once had his nose cut off and sewn back on, and as a result was deathly afraid of losing it again. He even tried to suggest that the nose be slightly blue. This was rejected for being too weird.
  • An early version of the script had Elizabeth outright turning down Norrington's proposal at the beginning of the film. As a result, Norrington would join Barbossa and plot to take over the Caribbean.
  • In an earlier version of the script, Pintel wasn't a comic relief character and not part of Those Two Guys.
  • Ragetti was added much later, as there is no mention of him in the earlier version of the script.
  • In another, earlier version of the script, reworked from the original by Jay Wolpert, Will Turner was a prison guard, not a blacksmith, and while he still broke out Jack Sparrow to save Elizabeth, the villain was named Captain Blackheart.
  • For a time, Disney though so little of the movie's potential, it was planned to be a straight-to-DVD release.
• Word of God: The first names of several characters in this are revealed on the DVD Commentary—Weatherby for Governor Swann, Hector for Barbossa and James for Norrington. All names were later made Canon in the sequels.
• Working Title: The movie was originally titled just Pirates of the Caribbean, but the subtitle was added in the hopes that a sequel could be produced if it did well. Verbinski disliked the subtitle as it's the pirates' gold that's cursed, not the ship.

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