Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearldidn’t introduce the adventures of grizzled captains and sea battles to the big screen. They have been there since the Golden Age of Hollywood, but for better and for worse,the swashbuckling Disney franchisehas become synonymous with the pirate genre for modern audiences.
During a time when the seas were too quiet and the genre was like an undisturbed shipwreck,Curse of the Black Pearlbecame a surprise hit that led to a series of blockbusters, but there was little room for other pirate-themed movies to join that success. So much so,there is an absence of pirate moviesoutside thePOTCseries that TV has tapped into with diverse pickings of a family-friendly adaptation to a popular anime or an adult-focused prequel to a classic novel.
The Box Office Is the Treasure That Pirate Movies Want — and Don’t Always Get
Dead men tell no tales — but movies dead at the box office are another story. One very good reason the Disney franchise can reap the most doubloons from the pirate genre is how expensive they are to make. Based onthe amusement park ride,Curse of the Black Pearldidn’t just sail by on the ride’s nostalgia. It chartered a new course to become an action-fantasy spectacle, thanks to breathtaking real locations and dazzling visual effects. Each one was expensive to make,with the fourth installment,On Stranger Tides,costing $410 millionand collecting $1 billion at the box office. However,the price tag of a pirate movie could just as well doom itto Davy Jones' locker.
Cutthroat Islandis consideredone of the biggest box-office bombsof all time, bankrupting its production studio and gettingblamed for killing the genre on the big screenin the ’90s. There wouldn’t be a resurgence untilCurse of the Black Pearl, and while the fourthPOTCkept the franchise afloat,the fifth movieended the series' run with a disappointing story thatdidn’t reclaim $1 billionat the box office. But thePirates of the Caribbeanmovies are not the only stories worth telling about swashbucklers, sea monsters, and the adventurer’s spirit. Some ofthe best pirate movieshave become classics without any connection to thePOTCseries.
There Are More Iconic Pirate Adventures Than the Ones With Jack Sparrow
A group of young friends inThe Gooniesband together to find the lost treasure of the mythic pirate One-Eyed Willy to save their families’ homes. Even though one is long dead,the spirit of a cold-blooded pirate is in Mama Fratelli (Anne Ramsey), whose growl could make Blackbeard shake in his boots as she leads her criminal sons in pursuit of the tweens and teens. The finale inside a cave finds the Goonies discovering One-Eyed Willy’s magnificent ship that can capturethe childlike wonder that is linked to pirates,and that same imagination is found in the numerous adaptations of two pieces of famous literature.
Before Disney brought their park ride to life, the studio adaptedRobert Louis Stevenson’s novelTreasure Islandinthe 1950s classic,a sci-fi twist, and even hadThe Muppets meet Long John Silver.But Disney had no involvement in two of the best versions ofPeter Pan.Hookstars an impressive duo, whereRobin Williamsis an older Peter, who must remember his true identity in time for a final duel withDustin Hoffman’sgentleman/scoundrel Captain Hook, withSteven Spielbergin the director’s chair andthe underrated score byJohn Williams.When the 2003 remake ofPeter Panwent back to Neverland, it was a more faithful approach toJ. M. Barrie’s novel that went all in on the emotionally stirring theme of the sadness and acceptance of growing up.
Although new, great pirate movies haven’t been coming out, TV is a different matter.One Piece, Netflix’s live-action adaptation ofthe long-running anime, transports you to a whimsy seascape where pirates meet Japanese culture in adventures for the whole family. The small screen is not without adult-oriented stories either. Four seasons ofBlack Sailson Starz is abrutal blend of fact and fiction, with increased levels of sex and violence in a prequel toTreasure Island. Meanwhile, the Max showOur Flag Means Deathputs a workplace comedy spin on a ship’s crew and explores the love story between aristocrat-wannabe-pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and the misunderstood Blackbeard (Taika Waititi). But TV shouldn’t be the only place where you get to holler out, “Hoist the colors!”
There Are Still More Adventures To Be Told in Pirate Movies
Detail-oriented accuracy can be ripe for storytelling, with poor hygiene like scurvy or grisly injuries from barbaric fighting tactics highlighting the horror of a pirate’s life. But historical inaccuracies will always have a place in the genre,where they can romanticize life at sea and make for ideal escapism.Reinventing or using overlooked folklore and mythology is waiting to be used. One scene inAt World’s Endhas a meeting between enemies and allies on a sandbar as aspaghetti Western-like score blasts, and it should be a seed of inspiration. There has never been a true spaghetti western-pirate hybrid, despite how pirates can be seen as anti-hero cowboys of a maritime Wild West.
The summer movie season for 2025might have dinosaurs and superheroes, but it is missing pirates. A smart path forward in making a pirate movie should be to place a strong focus on creativity rather than aiming for a high budget. Certain movies from the past are proof that a big-budget spectacle isn’t a surefire hit. While filming on the water is a tricky challenge that can affect how expensive a production is,Our Flag Means Deathdid find a solution withan LED wall that can make an ocean setting believable.The bigger-than-life world of pirates deserves to be seen in more movies outside the Disney franchise.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
