McCartney Times

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales to Feature Paul McCartney

By: Brian McGuire

The fifth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, titled Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, had its first full-length trailer shown this past Sunday during the broadcast of Super Bowl 51. While Tom Brady and the Patriots were busy pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in Super Bowl history, the Pirates of the Caribbean trailer was shown. Orlando Bloom returns as Will Turner, and Javier Bardem plays the undead villain Captain Salazar, but there’s one cast member that really has people excited. Legendary rock star and one of the most well known members of The Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney, was leaked as a cast member of the Pirate series’ latest swashbuckling adventure. This made the Pirates trailer one of the more intriguing entertainment commercials aired during Super Bowl LI.

The revered musician has made cameos in several different television series, and done voice acting work for a few animated shorts, but his actual fictional film roles are few and far between. In fact, McCartney’s role in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales marks his first non-Beatles related role since a 2006 guest host gig on Saturday Night Live playing Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel fame.

The only other acting roles that Paul McCartney has had were playing himself in A Hard Day’s Night and Help!, both of which were musical comedies directed by Richard Lester and released in 1964 and 1965 respectively. The plot of A Hard Day’s Night has The Beatles struggling to escape from hordes of fans, dealing with the antics of Paul’s grandfather and searching for Ringo after he goes off looking for some peace and quiet. Help! has a more fantastical plot, featuring the band dealing with an eastern cult trying to sacrifice Ringo to a pagan god.

At the moment there isn’t much information on just exactly what Sir Paul McCartney’s role is in the film. Deadline has confirmed that the scene featuring him was added in post-production, meaning that his appearance in the film is probably brief. Vanity Fair has also confirmed that McCartney’s appearance will be during a large-scale action sequence. Paul and Pirates star Johnny Depp seem to have a bit of a friendship, with Depp appearing in music videos for a few recent McCartney songs.

This isn’t the first time a legendary sixties era rock star has had a noteworthy role in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones played Jack Sparrow’s father, Captain Teague, in the third film in the series which was titled Pirates of The Caribbean: At World’s End. Paul McCartney’s appearance in the film is especially intriguing, however, because the scene he’s featured in isn’t a reshoot of a previously planned action sequence. This large, presumably expensive, action sequence was added after shooting was finished just so Sir Paul McCartney could be thrown in the middle of it for the audience’s pleasure.

Hopefully this investment pays off. With a $320 million budget and Johnny Depp’s money troubles, a lot’s riding on it.