Dec 5th   
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl*    
(US 2003)                        
Walt Disney/Jerry Bruckheimer. 142m. Panavision

Captain Jack Sparrow and blacksmith Will Turner rescue the nobleman's daughter who has appropriated a mysterious golden coin that unleashes a deadly curse on an undead crew. 
Highly contrived pirate adventure (based on a Disney theme park ride), tailored enough to modern sensibilities to be a big commercial success, in spite of semi-coherent plot and dialogue, and a distracting central performance.

Written by: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert.
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer.
Director: Gore Verbinski.
Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Jonathan Pryce, Jack Davenport, Mackenzie Crook, Lee Arenberg, Kevin McNally, Zoe Saldana, Guy Siner.
Photography: Dariusz Wolski.
Music: Klaus Badelt.
Production Design: Brian Morris.
Visual Effects: John Knoll.

Preceded by:
Tom and Jerry in
Sufferin' Cats**
(US 1942. 8m.;d: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera; p: Fred Quimby.)