The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is one of Disney’s biggest hits to this day. Created from a theme park attraction in Disneyland, the movies collectively grossed $4.5 billion worldwide. It is the 15th highest-grossing film franchise of all time and the first film franchise to have two or more films that grossed over $1 billion.
Although the movies are primarily associated with Johnny Depp and his brilliant portrayal of the eccentric pirate captain Jack Sparrow, Keira Knightley managed to shine equally bright. From being the daughter of the governor and leading a life of patriarchal restrictions to becoming the Pirate King in the third movie, her journey is truly goosebumps-worthy.
However, the young actress came close to a near-death experience while filming for the first movie and it is all connected to not being able to access the Titanic piece that a Russell Crowe movie had claimed first.
This Russell Crowe film almost led to Keira Knightley’s death due to its claim on Titanic equipment
True to its name, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movies were shot in the Caribbean waters. Now, anyone who has shot in the sea, be it James Cameron with Titanic or Steven Spielberg with Jaws, knows how difficult it is to translate their vision into reality since a lot of variables cannot be controlled. Aspects like weather, the tide, and the size of waves can greatly affect your shooting and the safety of the cast and crew. The worst part is that they can change even by the hour, making them impossible to predict and making the whole ordeal even more dangerous.
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Keira Knightley faced such a safety issue while shooting for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. One night, while she was returning from shooting, her rubber speedboat got stuck in a reef, putting the lives of everyone aboard in danger. She was stuck on a deserted island for nearly an hour with her mother, Sharman Macdonald before the boat’s skipper came to rescue them. While talking to Spin in an interview, she opened up about the whole thing and mentioned what a horrifying memory it was for her:
“I don’t know how anyone ever dealt with being lost on a desert island … Forty-five minutes awaiting rescue while being stranded waist-deep in water was quite enough.”
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All of this could have probably been avoided had it been for one piece of equipment from the Titanic. Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski wanted to use the massive water tank used for Titanic and Pearl Harbour, which was primarily utilized to ensure the safety of the cast members.
However, Peter Weir’s film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), starring Russell Crowe, had already booked the tank for their movie during the shoot of Pirates of the Caribbean. If it could indeed have been used for the film’s out-in-the-sea scenes, the mishap could easily have been easily avoided.
How did Disney respond to the whole incident?
Keira Knightley was only 17 when this happened to her and it left a scathing mark on her mind. The whole ordeal could have been fatal if she had not been rescued in time. Everyone aboard, including the actress, spent 45 minutes waist-deep in the water, as she told Spin. Hence, Disney could not just move past the situation sweep it under the rug.
Disney ended up deciding to completely terminate night shoots out of their schedule. Whatever scenes did need to be filmed at night, were instead shot in the studio. They wanted to focus more on the safety of the cast and crew than on authenticity, as per original plan.
All Pirates of the Caribbean movies are available to watch on Disney+.
Frequently asked questions
What was the Titanic connection that nearly derailed Pirates?
The link was a giant water tank, not a score or composer. The tank had previously been used to film Titanic and Pearl Harbor, and Pirates of the Caribbean wanted it for safer, controlled ocean shooting. But it was already booked by Peter Weir’s Russell Crowe film Master and Commander during the same window, leaving the Pirates team without it.
What went wrong because the tank was unavailable?
With no tank, some scenes were shot in real Caribbean waters. Returning from a night shoot, a young Keira Knightley, then 17, was stranded when her rubber speedboat became stuck on a reef. She was left waist-deep in the water for roughly 45 minutes with her mother and the crew before rescue, a genuinely dangerous situation.
How did Disney respond to the incident?
After the scare, Disney eliminated night shoots from the production schedule, relocating nighttime scenes to studio sets instead of the open sea. The studio prioritized the safety of cast and crew over on-water authenticity, changing how the remaining sequences were captured so a similar stranding could not happen again during the shoot.
