“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” released in US theatres

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In May 2016, it was unofficially announced that Paul McCartney would have a role in the upcoming Disney film “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales“, starring his friend Johnny Depp. On May 13, 2017, Paul McCartney confirmed his appearance by tweeting a character poster that sees him dressed up as a pirate and a caption “#PiratesLife”.

On this day, May 26, 2017, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales“, the fifth film in the series “Pirates of the Caribbean“, was released in US theatres. From Wikipedia:

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (released in some countries as Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge) is a 2017 American swashbuckler fantasy film directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg from a script by Jeff Nathanson. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film is the sequel to On Stranger Tides (2011) and the fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series. It stars Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, and Kevin McNally.

The filmmakers cited the series’ first installment, The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), as inspiration for the script and tone of the film. Pre-production for the film started shortly before On Stranger Tides was released in early 2011, with Terry Rossio writing the initial script. In early 2013, Jeff Nathanson was hired to write a new script for the film, with Depp being involved in Nathanson’s writing process. Initially planned for a 2015 release, the film was delayed to 2016 and then to 2017, after 6 years of development hell, due to script and budget issues. Principal photography started in Australia in February 2015, after the Australian government offered Disney $20 million in tax incentives, and ended in July 2015.

Johnny Depp plays the main role, Captain Jack Sparrow, and Paul McCartney plays the role of Jack Sparrow’s paternal uncle, Uncle Jack, in a brief scene in a prison. The role was expected to be filled by Keith Richards, of the Rolling Stone fame, who had participated in a previous Pirates of the Caribbean film; but was not available.

We had even written a scene for Keith [Richards]. And then because of some scheduling issues, he couldn’t come to Australia to shoot, so we sat down with Johnny [Depp] and kind of brainstormed, like, ‘Okay, who could fill his shoes?’ Because we felt like we should have something. We should honor the tradition of showing a Jack Sparrow family member. And we made a very short list, and of course, at the very top of that list was Sir Paul McCartney.

Joachim Rønning – Co-director of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” – From Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Paul McCartney role explained | EW.com

Johnny, of course, has his phone number, as you do. I don’t know what kind of club these people are a member of, but he had the phone number, so he said, ‘You know, I’ll text him! No problem.’ So he did! He just texted Sir Paul, and Sir Paul texted back. And it went a little back and forth, and their lingo got more and more pirate-y, and it was like, well, this is going to happen!

Espen Sandberg – Co-director of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” – From Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Paul McCartney role explained | EW.com

During this prison scene, Paul McCartney sings the song “Maggie Mae“, a traditional Liverpool folk song recorded by their Beatles and released on the “Let It Be” album.

One of the best moments of the whole shoot was at the end of the shooting day with him. The scene starts with him singing a song, and at the very end of the day, we needed to do a wild take to just record him singing. Nobody else is working on the set so on the soundstage, it’s completely quiet, and we’re only rolling sound. So I’m sitting there behind the monitors, listening in with earphones and basically recording Paul McCartney. That was a big, big moment.

Joachim Rønning – Co-director of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” – From Pirates of the Caribbean 5: Paul McCartney role explained | EW.com

Last updated on May 30, 2022