Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 American fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Rob Marshall and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, from a screenplay by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio.

During the back-to-back production of Dead Man's Chest (2006) and At World's End, writers Elliott and Rossio first learned of Powers' novel and considered it a good starting point for a new film in the series.

In 1750, a man rescued from the ocean is brought to King Ferdinand of Spain, where he claims to have sailed with Ponce de León, who died 200 years earlier searching for the Fountain of Youth.

[21] Depp also explained Cook was one of the few who accepted his portrayal of Jack Sparrow: "When things went a little sideways on the first Pirates movie and others at the studio were less than enthusiastic about my interpretation of the character, Dick was there from the first moment.

[22] Director Rob Marshall visited the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland for inspiration, eventually paying homage with a skeleton holding a magnifying glass in Ponce de León's ship.

[24] During the production of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End, writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio discovered Tim Powers's 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, which they considered a good foundation on which to base "a new chapter" in the Pirates series.

"[13] Rossio declared the script for On Stranger Tides was written to be a standalone film, "kind of a James Bond sort of thing", instead of the "designed to be a trilogy" structure of the previous installments.

[15] The duo decided to employ another sea myth alluded to in the previous episodes: mermaids,[27] which are briefly referenced as "suck-you-byes, female demons that weirdly and erotically occupied the last hours of men marooned on barren islands" in the fourth chapter of the book.

[33] Rush was positive on Barbossa having lost a leg, as he considered the disability made him "angrier, more forceful and resilient as a character", and had to work with the stunt team for an accurate portrayal of the limp and usage of crutch, particularly during sword fighting scenes.

[37] Previous cast members Orlando Bloom (Will Turner) and Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann) repeatedly stated that they would not reprise their roles, declining interest in returning to the Pirates series as they both thought the storyline involving their characters had gone as far as it could in At World's End.

[9] Sam Claflin, a recent drama school graduate with television experience, was chosen to play the missionary Philip,[49] and British actor Paul Bazely also joined the cast.

[54] The rest of the mermaid portrayers, such as Australian supermodel Gemma Ward,[55] were chosen for having "exotic sense, an otherworldly sensibility, but also under those layers a deadly quality", according to Marshall, and had to take swimming lessons to learn movements such as the dolphin and eggbeater kicks.

[28][57] Filming was moved to California in August 2010,[58] primarily at the Long Beach shore[44] and a recreation of Whitecap Bay done in the Universal Studios backlot,[28] as the original Hawaiian location on Halona Cove was plagued with strong tides.

[citation needed] After the joint production of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End cost over $300 million, Disney decided to give a lower budget to the fourth installment.

[63] Many costs had to be cut, including moving primary production to Hawaii and London, where tax credits are more favorable, and having a shorter shooting schedule and fewer scenes featuring special effects compared to At World's End.

Given Blackbeard was meant to be the meanest pirate to appear in the series, the look for Queen Anne's Revenge was ominous, with sails dyed blood red, various elements on fire, and a decoration based on skulls and bones (drawing inspiration from the Sedlec Ossuary in Czech Republic).

[72] ILM also handled Blackbeard's death, where Ian McShane's actual performance was covered by digital doubles which turned him into a "boiling mass of blood and clothing", and a hurricane-like formation that represented "the waters of the Fountain taking his life".

[68] Cinesite handled the recreation of London and Barbossa's peg leg,[60] CIS Hollywood did 3D corrections and minor shots, and Method Studios created matte paintings.

[74] Disney's marketing president, MT Carney, said that the film's advertising campaign was intended "to remind people of why they fell in love with Jack Sparrow in the first place and also introduce new elements in a way that was elegant".

[93] At Disney California Adventure Park, the Pirates of the Caribbean segment of the World of Color show was extended to include visual clips and music from On Stranger Tides.

[22] The world premiere of On Stranger Tides was on May 7, 2011, at a premium ticket screening at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, home of the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride that inspired the film series.

The website's consensus reads: "It's shorter and leaner than the previous sequel, but this Pirates runs aground on a disjointed plot and a non-stop barrage of noisy action sequences.

He found On Stranger Tides to be "precisely what you'd expect of the fourth installment of a movie based on an amusement park ride: a whole lot of noise, plenty of stunts and complete silliness.

"[170] Online reviewer James Berardinelli considered the script "little more than a clothesline from which to dangle all of the obligatory set pieces",[171] and USA Today's Claudia Puig found On Stranger Tides "familiar and predictable...often incoherent and crammed with pointless details.

Richard Roeper gave the film a B+, describing it as "the most fun installment since the first", calling the story "pure cartoon, but a lot easier to follow than the other sequels", and summing as "the franchise is getting tired, but Penelope energizes it.

"[175] Along the same lines, Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post gave the film three out of four stars, writing that it "feels as fresh and bracingly exhilarating as the day Jack Sparrow first swashed his buckle, infusing new reckless energy into a franchise that shows no signs of furling its sails".

[176] Ray Bennett from The Hollywood Reporter considered that Marshall "shows terrific flair with all the usual chases and sword fights, and he handles the 3D well", and welcomed Penélope Cruz's character, saying she "brings her Oscar-winning vivacity" and had "lively sexual tension" with Depp.

[177] Writing for The Globe and Mail, Rick Groen found the action scenes to range from "merely competent to tritely cluttered", but he was pleased with the overall result, calling McShane a "fresh villain" whose "stentorian tones are welcome anywhere".

[184] Rossio's draft was a proposed story written with the studio and producer guideline that Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom would not return to the series as Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann.

Pintel and Ragetti return from the Gore Verbinski's Pirates trilogy, among other characters, and there was also some connective tissue references to On Stranger Tides, notably Philip Swift and Syrena.