Latest Pirates of the Caribbean reaches cinemas

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales arrives on screens after a studio snub for the star, Johnny Depp, AKA Captain Jack Sparrow: he wasn't featured in the teaser.

The studio has relented, and Depp appears in the pre-release version of the teaser.

The Los Angeles Times surmises that the studio was squeamish about including Depp in the teaser, which opens with a British ship under siege by ghost pirates, as he was accused of domestic violence at the time and in the midst of a messy divorce. The accusations were made by Amber Heard, who dismissed her domestic violence case against the star as part of their divorce settlement in Aug 2016, according to People magazine.

The fifth installment in the swashbuckling fantasy franchise arrives on screens nearly 13 years after the first – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). It features the villainous Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) pursuing Jack Sparrow as he searches for the trident used by Poseidon.

Paul McCartney is dropping in for some pirate action. The directors – Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg – filmed an additional scene in order to feature the ex-Beatle. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has also had a drop-in role in the franchise. He played Captain Teague, Captain Jack Sparrow’s father, in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), the fourth installment.