When Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was released, it achieved instant box-office success, with a worldwide gross of $653,913,918. The film also received five Academy Award® nominations. From childhood classics like Treasure Island and Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates to such classic films as The Black Pirate, The Buccaneer, and The Crimson Pirate, the swashbuckling tales of high seas derring-do, both nefarious and noble, were Studio fixtures until recently, when these stories seemed all but forgotten. But that changed on this day in 2003, when Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl took to the silver screen to spectacularly reinvent and reinvigorate a moribund genre that once again is delighting millions. Inspired by the Disney theme park attractions that have enchanted generations since debuting in 1967 at Disneyland, it took Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, and a brilliant company of actors and behind the-scenes artists to breathe new life into the Jolly Roger’s sails.
