FAQ

Notorious pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) team up to rescue Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), daughter of Governor Weatherby Swann (Jonathan Pryce) and the love of Will's life, when she is kidnapped by the villainous pirate Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), captain of the cursed pirate ship, the Black Pearl.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is based on a screenplay by writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, who based their screenplay on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at the Disneyland theme park. It is the first movie in a series of five Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It is followed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). Untitled Pirates of the Caribbean Project is announced with no release date set.

Jack Sparrow is an infamous pirate, and his description has been passed around to all the naval captains (like a wanted poster that would read "You can recognize Jack Sparrow by the tattoo of a bird on his right forearm"). We know that he's been arrested in the past because of the "P" branded on his wrist right below the tattoo—the Navy or the East India Company probably made a thorough description of all of his distinguishing features while they had him in custody.

It is explained in the next film, but the compass points to what you want most. In this film, Jack wanted the Black Pearl the most, so it was pointing to the Pearl or the Isle De Muerta.