“Pirates of the Caribbean” Franchise is Not Dead Yet

Disney began cranking up the publicity machine for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales by releasing the first advance poster and a teaser trailer for the fifth installment of the adventures of Capt. Jack Sparrow.

Interestingly, franchise star Johnny Depp is nowhere to be seen in either. Perhaps the studio’s marketing people (wisely) assume that everyone has a very clear image of Jack Sparrow already, and what they need to do is start introducing the new elements.

The clip focuses on this installment’s new villain, Captain Salazar, played by the wonderful Javier Bardem (SkyFall), who always place a brilliant baddie — and even won an Oscar for playing one in No Country for Old Men. Check it out:

Pirates of the Caribbean 5… Yes, 5, Starts Filming

We all know dead men tell no tales, but apparently dead franchises do… well, the Pirates of the Caribbean series is not quite dead, and reanimating corpses is sort of what the whole series is about, so who can really be surprised by another installment of Disney’s amazing cash cow, appropriately subtitled Dead Men Tell No Tales.

With the indispensable Johnny Depp back as Capt. Jack Sparrow, the franchise is now helmed by a directing duo, Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning, best known for 2012’s well-regarded seagoing Kon-Tiki.

Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush is also back as Captain Barbossa, with Kevin McNally as Gibbs and Stephen Graham as Scrum. They’re joined by n00b hotties Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites, as well as Golshifteh Farahani (late of the recent bomb Exodus: Gods and Kings). But the big news is that Oscar winner Javier Bardem is confirmed as the Big Bad, Captain Salazar.