Shanghai Disney Resort to hold world premiere of latest 'Pirates of the Caribbean'

Film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth installment in the series, premiered at Shanghai Disney Resort on May 11.

The event marks the first time a Hollywood movie has held its world premiere in China.

Actors Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Javier Bardem, directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg and producer Jerry Bruckheimer will attend the gala event, with fans lining up outside the venue since Wednesday evening.

While most people know Pirates of the Caribbean as a 21st century blockbuster franchise, the idea was actually born 50 years ago in Disneyland. In 1967, Walt Disney and his Imaginers—a team specializing in imaginative engineering—decided to turn an idea they had for a pirate wax museum into an attraction.

On April 19, 1967, the first Pirates of the Caribbean ride opened at Disneyland Park in California. A firm favorite among Disney fans ever since, Pirates of the Caribbean is all the more poignant for being the last attraction Walt oversaw before he passed away.

Featuring multiple audio-animatronic pirates, animals and birds—the attraction was an immediate hit. It later became the inspiration for the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, which debuted in 2003, starring Johnny Depp in the role of Captain Jack Sparrow.

With Thursday evening's premiere of the latest film at Shanghai Disney Resort, the choice of venue represents the continuing popularity of Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as the global reach of Disney.