Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Storyline Details Emerge

It's generally been known that the fourth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series is based, at least in part, on Tim Powers' 1987 adventure novel On Stranger Tides. Indeed, the title of the film is taken from the book.

Now, ComingSoon.net has some more details on the film's storyline, straight from the director, Rob Marshall, who spoke at a special event at Disneyland where the first trailer for the film was initially screened.

"The story takes us to some different places," Marshall explained, "which makes it nice that it's not the same old thing. The whole opening and the first third of the film takes place in London. So we start on dry land and there is an impostor that Jack is looking for. He then escapes from the palace, gets captured by King George and there is a huge carriage chase ... [W]e set sail and that is sort of the second act. It's a new ship, Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. Then Barbossa has a new ship called the Providence. The third act is this incredible jungle adventure through caves where they are looking for the Fountain of Youth."

Compare this to a synopsis of the book, which follows the exploits of John "Jack Shandy" Chandagnac, who travels to the new world after the death of his puppeteer father to confront his uncle, who has apparently made off with the family fortune. During the voyage, he befriends Beth Hurwood and her father Benjamin Hurwood, an Oxford professor. Before they arrive at their destination, their ship is waylaid by Blackbeard and his band of pirates. With the help of the professor and his assistant, the captain is killed and Chandagnac is pressed into piracy and sorcery as Blackbeard searches for the Fountain of Lost Youth. Chandagnac, newly dubbed "Jack Shandy," must stop the evil plot and save Beth Hurwood.

There are clearly some similarities here, though the film seems to be a loose adaptation of the book, at best.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, starring Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow (the Jack Shandy character in the book) and Ian McShane as Blackbeard, opens in theaters May 20th, 2011.