Pirates of the Caribbean is going down under Australia anytime this month to kick off filming its fifth installment, Dead Men Tell No Tales.
The News previously reported the latest installment of the Pirates film will be shot on the Gold Coast where set construction is well in the process, before moving to sites north of Mackay and in Port Douglas in Far North Queensland.
As reported by The Wrap, Pirates 5 is a thanksgiving to the funds that were apportioned to Disney's failed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea film.
In the same report, Mexico was also up to win a good bid for the $250 million film. However, the Queensland government won because of the agreed transfer of $21.6 million incentive from 20,000 Leagues to Pirates and reduction of payroll taxes.
Australian Attorney-General and Minister for the Arts George Brandis said in a statement that the deal will be the largest international feature film ever to shoot in Australia that will bring in about $100 million to the state and create 1,000 jobs as well.
Locations previously used for Pirates of the Caribbean films include London, Singapore, New Orleans, Port Royal in Jamaica, Tortuga which is part of Haiti and Cadiz in Spain. Oscar award-winning villain Javier Bardem will play the bad guy Captain Brand, a ghost determined to take revenge against Captain Jack Sparrow, who murdered Brand's brother.
Still rumored for a comeback in the film are Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Jake Davenport as James Norrington and Queensland native Geoffrey Rush as the witty Captain Barbossa. Ian McShane, Keith Richards and Stephen Graham also returns in the film along with new characters that include a British soldier and a young girl he hopes to protect.
Directors Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg could have swayed Bardem to take on the role whose wife Oscar winner actress Penelope Cruz starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
The film also stars Kaya Scodelario, Brenton Thwaites, Martin Klebba, Kevin McNally and Rodney Afif. Jeff Nathanson wrote the screenplay based on characters fashioned by Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio and Jay Wolpert. Jerry Bruckheimer will return to produce.
Disney has announced that Pirates of the Carribean 5: Dead Men Tell No Tales to open in theaters in July 2017.
Meanwhile, one key character in the installment- Jack, the capuchin monkey - reportedly troubled joining the set due Australia's rigid biosecurity laws.
According to News, Jack could be taken under the custody of the Australian government for over a month of quarantine. Called the "meanest, most rotten-tempered Simian in the Caribbean," Jack had appeared in the four past Pirates films.
However, producers of the film had already sought help through a letter sent to Queensland Premier Campbell Newman regarding the matter as it poses a major hurdle to the film.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture, however, said they were yet to receive an import permit application from the producers, Jerry Bruckheimer Films.
"All animals entering Australia are subject to rigorous health and biosecurity checks under strict import conditions," said the spokesman in a report from the News. "These conditions include a requirement for an import permit."
Once approved to enter the country, the Capuchin monkey will be subject to a 30-day quarantine period before release under quarantine surveillance into premises approved by the State or Territory Government.
Jack is the offsider and pet of Captain Hector Barbossa played by Australian Geoffrey Rush in Pirates of the Caribbean.
"Pirates of the Caribbean" has been one of Disney's most lucrative franchises, with three of the first four films ranking in its all-time top 10. The films have earned a combined $3.7 billion at the worldwide box office.
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