Despite a number of other actor being offered the role of Jack Sparrow first, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Johnny Depp portraying the staggering swashbuckler. The role even earned him an Academy Award nomination for his first outing. Which might make it even more of a shock to hear that he was on the verge of getting fired throughout the shoot. According to the actor, some of the higher-ups at Disney just couldn’t understand what he was doing with the character. They reportedly accused him of being inebriated, ruining the movie, and they even contemplated putting subtitles on the screen whenever the character speaks.
Though the series hasn't had a critical hit since The Curse of the Black Pearl, the franchise has continued to be a box office giant — grossing over $4.5 billion collectively and making it the twelfth-highest-grossing film franchise of all time. However, many of the Pirates movies are also ranked amongst the biggest budgeted movies of all time. Though it’s hard to gauge the actual budget of some movies when you factor in both production and advertising, as the most expensive movie ever made thanks to its reported budget of $379 million. With a worldwide gross over a billion dollars, it still looks like this was money well spent. After co-starring in the critically acclaimed 2011 film Atonement, that the Pirates franchise nearly destroyed Keira Knightley's career. Considering how popular the Pirates franchise has become, it’s easy to think the exact opposite. After all, the role of Elizabeth Swann sky-rocketed Knightley to fame overnight.