Sunday, May 20, 2007

Third Pirates film in LA premiere

The latest movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, At World's End, has had its world premiere in Los Angeles.

Crowds of screaming fans turned out to glimpse stars of the film, including Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, as they attended the gala event at Disneyland.

The original inspiration for the film series was a ride at the theme park.

Three films on, it has become one of the most successful film franchises ever, with the second in the series taking over $1bn (£506m) worldwide.

Only two other films - Titanic and The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King - have ever reached the $1bn global box office takings mark.

At World's End is one of the most expensive in Hollywood history, costing a reported $300m.

At World's End picks up where the last film, Dead Man's Chest, left off and once again features the exploits of the intrepid Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Depp.

Keith Richards
Keith Richards appears as Captain Jack's father
Depp famously based his portrayal of the character on Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richard's and in this instalment Richards makes a cameo appearance playing Jack's father, Captain Teague.

British actor Bill Nighy, who returns as Captain Jack's arch nemesis Davy Jones, told the BBC that the success of the Pirates series lays in part with Depp's comic turn, which he described as "one of the great performances of recent times", and the swashbuckling adventure.

But mainly he put it down to the films' feel-good factor saying: " I know it sounds cheesy but it's something to do with big heartedness and good spiritedness and you just feel a bit better when you leave the cinema than you did when you went in."