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These facts about Pirates of the Caribbean 5 will blow your mind!

Cape Town - Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge opens in South African cinemas on Friday, 26 May.

To celebrate the release of the film we’ve put together some mind-blowing facts about the flick.

Here are 10 fun facts:

1. A fan's dream come true

Young actor Brenton Thwaites, who portrays Henry in Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge, has been a fan of the film series since he was a schoolboy growing up in Queensland, Australia. No one was more delighted than he to discover that not only had he been cast as the young lead of the film, but that it would film almost entirely in…Queensland, Australia!

2. 2000 Costumes

Costume designer Penny Rose and her team converted an entire 20 000 foot soundstage at Village Roadshow Studios in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia into a wardrobe warehouse filled with 2000 costumes, hats, shoes and accessories, all meticulously arranged by character names, types, genders and ages.

3. 11 ships

The so-called “ship arena” in Helensvale, Queensland, Australia was the site of eleven ships, which were constructed on computerised motion bases. Curious members of the public could catch a glimpse of a mast or two peeking out from 100 shipping cargo containers piled on top of each other like bricks. One of the local newspapers surmised that the purpose of the stacked containers was to hide the top-secret filming from prying eyes.

4. A bruised bouncer

Called a “bruised bouncer” by its architect, production designer Nigel Phelps, Captain Salazar’s ship is nothing less than a floating Spanish castle, with turrets and a castle keep in its rear, swiveling cannons on deck and statues of medieval knights in full armor adorning her decks and exterior. Festooning the gun port lids like sinister guardians are golden twin-horned devil heads, as if to further intimidate the enemy or pirates, or indicate the dark heart of its captain. On deck are large wooden barrels, meant not to give the crew water or wine, but rather the worst place for imprisonment. 

5. 15 hours 

As portrayed by Golshifteh Farahani, sea witch Shansa’s costume took 15 hours a day for a week to create just one of them, with 42 people working on it. To be transformed into the mysterious sea witch Shansa, she required four to five hours of make-up. 

6. 1000 wigs

Key hair designer Peter Swords King’s department created more than 1 000 wigs for the film, and on the biggest days made up 700 extras and 30 principals, with a main team of 22 people and another 70 in a vast tent for background, stunt players and wranglers. The facility was humorously referred to as “the sausage factory.”

7. 88 diaries

There were 88 versions of Carina Smyth’s cherished diary before the one used in the film was finally settled upon. The covers are leather-bound, and aging on the pages was done in an interesting method…by dousing them in coffee!  

8. 60 trucks

The massive logistical operation for the company’s filming in the Whitsunday Islands required 60 trucks traveling 1400 kilometers from the production’s Gold Coast base, followed by a 40-minute drive and barge trip from the mainland to Hamilton Island, one of the locations, and then another hour-and-a-half barge trip to other islands where the company was filming.

9. A big storm

Just following the completion of 93 days of principal photography in Australia, a storm system settling over the Whitsundays, the company’s final location, forced the cancellation of all flights from the tiny Hamilton Island airstrip. More than 200 cast and crew members had to be ferried over rough waters of the Whitsunday Passage to the Australian mainland, driven more than two hours to the city of Mackay, and then flown home from whence they came.

10. A century old rum bottle

Captain Jack Sparrow’s hero rum bottle prop is an actual 18th century item from England.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:

WIN: 1 of 4 Pirates of the Caribbean movie hampers!

(Photos: Disney)

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