Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2003, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl arrived as an unlikely gamble, a big-budget film built from a theme park ride. Directed by Gore Verbinski, it revived the swashbuckler genre for a new generation and became a genuine cultural phenomenon, launching one of the most successful franchises in modern cinema. Its success rested heavily on a singular performance that redefined what a blockbuster hero could look like.
This cell preserves a single frame of Captain Jack Sparrow, the character who made Johnny Depp a household name and became one of the most collected figures in modern film ephemera. As a strip pulled from the physical release print, it stands as a direct artifact of the film's theatrical run, a fragment of the actual print audiences watched projected in 2003. For collectors, a cell centered solely on Sparrow carries the weight of the franchise's origin, isolating the character whose presence defined the film's identity before any of his later sequels existed.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the lower edge beside the picture area, appearing as two bilateral wavy white lines consistent with a stereo variable-area track; a blue laser exciter line is also visible, and what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip is present between the lower perforations and the picture.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm amber-orange tint typical of a colour print stock; dye image appears saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Several fine longitudinal lines are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with projection wear; no splices or cue marks are visible.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the subject matter is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a bilateral variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital data blocks, and warm-base colour print stock is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2003 release date of the film on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063450
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
