Disneyland is the home of the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ adventure ride, so it makes perfect sense that the stars of the movies created from that ride met there to celebrate the fourth installment in the series. Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush and newcomers Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane joined forces to walk the black carpet there, at the premiere of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ on Saturday afternoon, May 7.
Hordes of fans turned out for the chance to see Depp, who is arguably the most popular man on the planet at the moment. It’s a situation that makes the handsome 47-year-old actor chuckle.
“It’s interesting to experience this kind of ride, after essentially 20 years of enjoying a career based on failures,” he told reporters during an earlier press conference for the new film. “Suddenly, something clicks. The weird thing is that I never changed a thing. The process is still the process, as it ever was. The fact that people decided to go and see a movie that I was in was probably the most shocking thing that I’ve ever been through!”
It was no shock that the ‘Pirates 4’ premiere pass was the hottest ticket in town, as Hollywood’s biggest stars headed south to Anaheim to be the first to see the summer blockbuster. Look one way, there was Javier Bardem, Cruz’s proud husband, along with ‘Desperate Housewives’ Eva Longoria and Teri Hatcher, rock legend Keith Richards and ‘Dancing with the Stars’ duo Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.
Look another way, and spot Jodie Foster, Andy Garcia, Vanessa Hudgens, and Martin Short. One more turn and see Jennifer Grey, Eliza Dushku with Rick Fox as her escort, Adrian Pasdar, Emma Roberts, Ashley Tisdale and Cheryl Burke. There was even Kevin Sorbo dressed up as a pirate, complete with headscarf; he laughed with Steven Tyler and the film’s director, Rob Marshall, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
Bruckheimer, who has made millions from the first three movies already, was probably happy to hear Depp tell reporters at the press conference that he’s ready to play Captain Jack Sparrow for many years to come.
“Interestingly enough, for me, a character like Captain Jack, you feel like you could just continue.
The possibilities are endless and limitless. There is always a possibility of madness and absurdity that could commence, so you feel that, with this character, you’re never really done,” he said. “They’ll wheel me in. My dreads will get tangled in the wheels of my chair!”
