A movie based on a theme park ride does not sound like the recipe for success, but Disney took the popular ride at their various parks and launched the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise nonetheless, which has grossed $4.5 billion worldwide and is the 14th highest-grossing movie franchises of all time. Audiences the world over have followed the adventures of Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightly), and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) for years, and the movies have become a staple in the realm of 21st-century blockbusters, and even after almost 20 years since the first movie, they still find an audience for those looking for an adventurous good time.

Before the MCU and Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean was Disney's crown jewel franchise. After years of attempting to launch their own action series, Pirates of the Caribbean finally gave the studio something that could appeal to families but have a slight edge to it, as the original film was the first movie with the Disney logo to have a PG-13 rating. The franchise was at its height from 2003 to 2007 and, for many, could be seen as the Star Wars for a new generation.

This is odd, given that there were Star Wars films coming out at the time, but the Pirates of the Caribbean series tapped into the key archetypes of the original trilogy. There was a young ideal hero who had a father with an unknown backstory (Will Turner/Luke Skywalker), who teams up with a rogue scoundrel (Jack Sparrow/Han Solo) to rescue a damsel who isn't quite in distress and can take care of herself (Elizabeth Swan/Princess Leia). Both franchises had second films that end on a major cliffhanger where the heroes have to go rescue the rogue character, with the third film having an opening act dedicated to rescuing said rogue and the latter half having an epic showdown with the series' villains.

That may have attributed to the franchise's initial success, and even with two later sequels that may have disappointed critics and audiences alike, the franchise still stays a beloved part of the cultural conversation. Nonetheless, the five Pirates films can still be enjoyed in the meantime, so take a look at the movies listed in order of release date and chronologically, as they are completely the same.

Update November 11, 2023: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and Disney films make for great holiday watches, so this article has been updated with more information on each title, the future of the franchise, and where you can stream each title.

Pirates of the Caribbean Movies, in Order by Release and Chronologically

Pirates of the Caribbean has a straightforward continuity, as each film builds on itself. The franchise currently spanned a 14-year run and was always a summer franchise.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is the one that started it all. The plot focuses on Will Turner, who looks to rescue Elizabeth Swan after a crew of undead pirates takes her; Will recruits the help of Jack Sparrow, a notorious pirate who has a history with the Black Pearl and its leader, Captain Barbossa. While a straightforward story, the genius of the film is that it swerves in a number of different directions at the whims of Jack Sparrow, who keeps the plot moving and exciting without being the lead.

Jack Sparrow is not your traditional pirate or leading man hero. Director Gore Verbinski had a history in rock n roll music, having performed in many bands in his early career before becoming a filmmaker, and that sensibility bleeds through into the film (and Depp's performance, often compared to Keith Richards of The Rolling Sontes), offering new riffs on a classic genre. In many ways, this movie locked down a formula that Guardians of the Galaxy would perfect: take a self-serious genre and infuse it with a character who can alter the tone and mood of the piece. That, and the incredible score led by Hans Zimmer, one of the best film scores of the 2000s.

All through development, Disney was worried that the movie was going to be a massive bomb, as pirate films had not been a major draw in years, and the combined box-office disasters of fellow theme park film The Country Bears and the pirate-themed film Treasure Planet gave Disney cold feet. Combine that with many at the studio not being comfortable with Depp's performance as Jack Sparrow, and many thought that the movie would be a bomb.

However, the exact opposite happened. The combination of a great script that was both familiar and fresh, offering a unique spin on the pirate series, with a cast of great characters made Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl a smash hit, beating out more established brands that year like The Matrix: Revolutions, X2: X-Men United, and Terminator 3: Judgement Day upon release.

Johnny Depp's performance was universally praised, and Jack Sparrow became an iconic character in cinema, with Depp even scoring an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, a rarity for a Disney (or action-adventure franchise) movie. It is hard to believe the movie is 20 years old, as the film still feels so fresh; the quotes have remained part of pop culture, and it packs the same sense of excitement it did in the summer of 2003.

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

While Curse of the Black Pearl is the most iconic film in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest might be the most 'Pirates' film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series and is the moment where it went from being just a movie to the franchise of the moment. The movie begins with Will and Elizabeth's wedding interrupted by Cutler Becket, who wants Will to retrieve Jack Sparrow's compass for him. Meanwhile, Jack discovers that his debt to Davy Jones is up, and he needs to find a way to save himself. The main three heroes intersect at various points in the story as new revelations are revealed about the characters' backstories, desires, and hidden agendas that will put them to the test.

Everything about Dead Man's Chest plays, like the filmmakers received a blank check, knowing the first film was successful and that they could go all out with this sequel. While the script is a little lopsided, a side effect of needing to be a middle chapter that sets up the third movie, the film uses that to its advantage to not only deepen the world and mythology but provide some of the biggest and most breathtaking spectacles audiences could imagine in 2006, which even now still feel impressive.

Every action scene is top-tier, and the filmmakers have taken everything from the first film and cranked it up to 11. A three-way sword fight that extends across the island on a spinning wheel, a massive sea battle with a mythological creature of the deep; this is something you can only get with a franchise that is willing to go this bonkers and be confident enough that audiences will go for it.

Nowhere is this ethos more clear than in the film's title villain, Davy Jones, whose look, performance, and characterization are a high mark for the franchise. He has a great visual design unlike anything else put to film. The motion capture still holds up after 17 years as one of the best pieces of VFX in film. Nighy gives the character a tragic backstory but still a sense of cruelty; he is a villain with an origin that is understandable but also still sinister, and the audience knows he is someone to be feared.

By the time the movie ends with one of the greatest cliffhangers ever, the audience is beyond excited about the next film. The movie was a massive success when it opened in 2006, breaking Spider-Man's record for the biggest opening weekend at the time, and went on to gross $1 billion worldwide, the highest-grossing film of 2006. Everybody was on board with Dead Man's Chest in 2006, and after all these years, it still feels like a miracle that it exists at all and is something that more blockbusters should strive to be.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

Released in the summer of 2007, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was an event movie, the epic conclusion to the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy that had taken audiences by storm. Taking place shortly after the events of Dead Man's Chest, the movie sees Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa, and the rest of the crew of The Black Pearl going to rescue Jack Sparrow from the land of the dead in order to assemble a group of pirates to fight the continued control of the East India Trading Company, who now has Davy Jones and his crew at their disposal.

While the lesser film in the original trilogy, time has been more kind to the third Pirates of the Caribbean film as both successive sequels showed what was missing from the franchise, and just the sheer scale of At World's End is something even major blockbusters don't provide anymore. The movie knew it was going to be a hit, so it featured a massively bloated runtime to tell a grand conclusion and revels in every minute of it. It was set by wrapping up massive plot threads laid out in the previous two films involving magic artifacts while also introducing new elements.

In many ways, it was the precursor to the MCU, as its success showed that audiences were ready for this kind of storytelling, where intricate plot details in different films are connected throughout the course of several years. The movie ends on an interesting note, where the franchise is brought full circle, and all the characters are in similar places to where they started but changed in some drastic way, making the arc of the hero's journey complete. It ended with the tease of sequels, but it never needed them, and had it ended, the implied adventures might have been more satisfying.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was the highest-grossing film of 2007 worldwide, as it grossed $960 million, and until the release of Top Gun: Maverick in 2022, it held the record for the biggest Memorial Day weekend release, making At World's End a quintessential summer movie and a fitting end to a great trilogy.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Released four years after At World's End closed out the original trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides tried to reset the franchise with a new status quo to continue for years. Gone were Will and Elizabeth, Jack Sparrow was put front and center, and Barbossa was no longer a fellow pirate but a member of the Royal Navy. The film's basic plot sees Jack Sparrow recruited by past lover Angelica (Penélope Cruz) and her father, the notorious pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), to find the Fountain of Youth.

While Cruz and McShane are welcome additions to the cast and do provide some fresh dynamics, the film suffers from feeling smaller scale compared to the adventures of the first three movies, and forcing Jack Sparrow into a more traditional hero role when the character works best as a chaotic good ally. Rob Marshall of Chicago fame steps in to direct, and while a talented director in his own right, it is immediately apparent that Gore Verbinski is gone from the director's chair, and as a result, the film was considered "doomed to fail."

On Stranger Tides looks rather plain compared to the gonzo weirdness of the past three entries that made the series stand out from other Pirates of the Caribbean films. The movie feels stripped of everything that made the series unique, and instead comes off as a knockoff of the previous movies. Despite that it the film does still have some standout moments, particularly any scene with Jack Sparrow and Barbosa. It also dives deep into pirate lore by introducing historical pirates such as Blackbeard.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is a slight improvement over the previous film despite it probably featuring the worst Jack Sparrow performance by Johnny Depp, who was going through some personal problems and exhibited erratic behavior on set; he seems to be phoning it in (this was the film where he wore an earpiece on set to have his lines read to him). The film takes place about 20 years after the events of At World's End, and sees the son of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan looking to free his father from Davy Jones' curse and believes the fabled Trident of Poseidon can do so. However, during his travels, he encounters Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem), a ghost who wants revenge on Jack Sparrow for besting him and his crew years prior.

Unlike the previous entry, this movie is very much going for the legacy sequel approach similar to Star Wars: The Force Awakens by trying to recreate many of the dynamics of the original film, yet it never quite captures the magic, mainly in that there has only been one movie without Will and Elizabeth. Dead Men Tell No Tales does have some very enjoyable action sequences, which make it a step up from the previous film.

The film lacks a sense of continuity from previous entries since it states two decades have passed since the end of the third film, yet Jack and Barbossa remain the same age; Barbossa has a child that Jack knows the mother of, but that implies it took place before the trilogy, and the movie's plot is kicked off by Jack giving away his compass, yet this is not the first time Jack has done this in the series.

Out of all entries, this one doesn't have the passion felt through past entries, but it's still a serviceable sequel, even if it shows it was made to cash in on the popularity of these characters. Hopefully, the anticipated sixth film will rectify this and continue to progress into something special deserving of the original Pirates of the Caribbean name.

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Future Entries

As of this writing, there have been no announced plans for a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Disney had plans for another Pirates of the Caribbean film with Margot Robbie in the lead role, which were eventually paused as Johnny Depp expressed interest in getting back to work with Disney again. Yet, Disney already has many projects in development, and unlike in the 2000s, they aren't so reliant on the franchise anymore, so it may take some time until a new Pirates of the Caribbean film hits theaters.

Disney tried to chase the success of Pirates of the Caribbean for years, with failed franchise starters like The Lone Ranger, John Carter, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time all going for a similar vibe but failing to capture the magic and mainly becoming Disney box-office bombs. This led Disney to buy major properties like Star Wars and Marvel to appeal to the action audience that Pirates of the Caribbean tapped into. While both of those franchises are on hold, that might offer a chance for Pirates of the Caribbean to make its grand return.

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