Tides opens with Jack Sparrow in London, putting together a crew for his next expedition: to find the Fountain of Youth. As always, the work is cut out for him, as several others are likewise on the trail, foremost and mysterious among them is a figure known as The Spaniard, who’s been commissioned to not only seek out the fountain, but destroy it as well.

In addition to that, his old foe Captain Barbarossa (Geoffrey Rush), now down a leg and bereft of his beloved Black Pearl, has returned and is now working as a privateer for King George II (Richard Griffiths), another fountain-seeker. And rounding out the stranger tide is Angelica (Penelope Cruz), a former lover of Jack and daughter to the dreaded Captain Blackbeard (series newcomer Ian McShane), who seeks eternal life to bypass a prophecy that a one-legged man shall kill him.

However merely finding the fountain and juggling adversaries and fellow adventurers isn’t enough, to unlock the power of eternal youth, Jack must first acquire the tear of a mermaid, which entails capturing a mermaid (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey) and getting her to cry. That doesn’t seem like a particularly ardent task, especially when you have several men with knives and a Blackbeard, but, wouldn’t you know it, the missionary Philip (Sam Claflin) has fallen in love with her. But that’s easily remedied, right?

I’m not much of a Pirates fan and don’t find Depp’s Jack Sparrow as endearing as everyone else seems to (he’s like Chevy Chase in that both simply make deadpan observations of the flagrantly obvious), but I didn’t mind On Stranger Tides. It’s a hefty 137 minutes and yet is the shortest of the quartet. It drags, but no more so than the previous installments and has one truly inspired sequence with the mermaids.

The fourth installment of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise hits theaters in May, but today we’re bringing you the first official movie poster. Entitled On Stranger Tides, the flick will be the first of the series to be released in 3D and will be producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s second 3D film to-date, following his 2009 animated G-Force.

The Walk Disney Pictures release stars Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Ian McShane, Geoffrey Rush, and Kevin McNalley, among others. Interestingly, the plot of the new Pirates is inspired by the novel On Stranger Tides, which is the same novel that inspired the LucasArts game, The Secret of Monkey Island; a game that has become a bit of a cult classic, even sporting a recent iPad port of the original game.

The plot focuses on Captain Jack Sparrow searching for the fountain of youth and along the way, confronting the infamous pirate, Blackbeard himself.

On Stranger Tides releases May 20th. Until then, hit the jump for the full movie poster in all its glory.

We’re had a pretty heavy few weeks when it comes to big budget movie trailers. There were some good ones like Thor, some bad ones like Transformers: Dark Side Of The Moon, and some really bad ones like Real Steel. Thankfully, there’s now a decent trailer to warm moviegoer’s hearts and give us something to look forward to in the coming year.

Of course, we’re talking about the fourth film in the Pirates of the Carribbean series, titled On Stranger Tides. From the looks of it, some of our favorite characters are all coming back, including Geoffrey Rush’s Barbossa. This time around, we’re getting treated with the awesomely bad ass stylings of Ian McShane as Blackbeard and the lovely Penélope Cruz as Angelica.

This time, Jack Sparrow and his gang of drunken pirates are after the fountain of youth, and travel to the ends of the earth against Blackbeard and his daughter to get to it first. The flick has prime placement for a box office smash, as it’s slated for a May 20th release.

Check out the full trailer after the jump.

The much anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides revealed its teaser trailer during the Disney panel held over the weekend. In the trailer we have the incomparable Captain Jack Sparrow drunkenly inviting the audience to join him in an adventure in search of the fountain of youth.

Sparrow goes on to entice the audience with various dangers he will be encountering, including cutthroats, zombies, mermaids and his co-star Penelope Cruz. In the film, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), and he’s not sure if it’s love or if she’s a ruthless con artist who’s using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth.

When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.

The movie will be directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago). It is set to hit theaters on May 20th, 2011 in both 2D and 3D formats.

Keep it here for all of your Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides news and check out the teaser after the jump.

Since it’s announcement, Rob Marshall’s upcoming sequel in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has gotten more and more interesting casting news. First Ian McShane joined the cast as Blackbeard, then Penelope Cruz was cast as his daughter and now the cast has grown by one more.

Actor Stephen Graham, possibly best known for his roles in Gangs of New York and Snatch, will be standing side by side with Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow in next summer’s epic sequel. From Variety:

He’ll portray Scrum, a Machiavellian pirate in Disney’s fourth installment of the franchise in which Sparrow seeks out the fountain of youth. Graham worked with Depp on “Public Enemies” and recently wrapped on murder drama “The Fields” opposite Sam Worthington.

He also will be seen as Al Capone on Martin Scorsese’s series “Boardwalk Empire” for HBO and in William Monahan’s “London Boulevard” opposite Keira Knightly and Colin Farrell.

Pirates 4 is geared to set sail on May 20th, 2011.

While director Rob Marshall is curruntly donning his tri-corner hat and swashbuckling pants for Pirate of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides, he’s still doing some press for his film Nine, which hits DVD and Blu-ray on May 4th.

Marshall’s Nine made a few splashes last year, getting nominated for four Academy Awards and winning a few Satellite Awards. Marshall managed to take the excitement and aesthetic of 2002’s Chicago and put it into the setting of Italian cinema in the late 1960s.

The film also spared no expense on cast with names like Daniel Day-Lewis, Penélope Cruz, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, and Judi Dench. We’ll be bringing you more features from the DVD release as we draw closer to the date, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, check out a look at director Rob Marshall after the jump.

Now that Rob Marshall has settled in and Disney has confirmed that Johnny Depp will be returning for the fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, currently entitled On Stranger Tides, the studio is now looking to fill the cast with other well-known actors to keep the financial ball rolling.

First news on that front was that Penelope Cruz would be joining as Jack Sparrow’s new squeeze. More news is coming in that Ian McShane, the man who made swearing an art form on the series Deadwood, is currently in negotiations to play the pirate Black Beard.

The actor is best known for Deadwood, but has also been seen in other great projects such as NBC’s short-lived Kings, and the Andy Samberg comedy Hot Rod. The British actor was last seen in the film 44-inch Chest.

No word yet when we will get official word on McShane’s involvement with the film, but with other great actors such as Geoffrey Rush and Bill Nighy taking parts in the film, this seems to be right in line with that pattern.

What are your thoughts on Ian McShane as Black Beard? Who else would you like to see in the next Pirates film? Sound off in our comments below.

About thirty minutes into Rob Marshall’s musical Nine, I kept getting a nagging sense of déjà vu. It finally dawned on me that the movie reminded me a lot of All That Jazz, the 1979 musical directed by Bob Fosse. That movie starred the late Roy Scheider, who portrayed a brilliant choreographer experiencing an existential crisis in the days leading up to a big Broadway production. He copes with his pathos by popping pills and chasing women, and his self destructive ways ultimately cost him the love and respect of his daughter and those closest to him.

In Nine, Daniel Day Lewis plays a brilliant Italian director who experiences an existential crisis in the days leading up to the first day of filming for his new movie. He is a scoundrel, and has so many entanglements with various women that it ultimately threatens his health, marriage and relationships, not to mention the movie.

As soon as I got home, I started researching and found out that All That Jazz and Nine were both based on Federico Fellini’s 1963 film 8 1/2, which is widely considered a masterpiece in most film circles. While All That Jazz was Bob Fosse’s re-imagining of 8 1/2 with autobiographical components liberally interwoven, Nine is a more faithful adaptation of the story.

We’ve shown you some great stuff from Rob Marshall’s upcoming musical NINE already, from some stills to a featurette to a trailer. Now, as the film gets closer to the release date, as usually happens, a brand new trailer has just dropped.

This time around, as with previous versions, the trailer further highlights the musical spectacle and acting power put together for the film. It also gives a bit more information about the story of the main character, director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), and his effect on the woman in his life. We also catch more glimpses of some of the musical numbers and more of the other terrific cast members, including Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and Judi Dench

Expect a full review of NINE here at The Flickcast soon. Until then, enjoy this latest trailer (after the jump of course) of what will surely be yet another Rob Marshall musical masterpiece. NINE opens in NY and LA on December 18 and everywhere else on Christmas Day.

Previously, we brought you some very cool pics and a beautiful behind the scenes video from Rob Marshall’s upcoming musical extravaganza NINE. Now, we’ve got another video to share with you from the film. This time around, it features the beautiful and talented Kate Hudson in a show stopping, all singing, all dancing sequence sure to knock your socks off. Its called “Cinema Italiano” and after watching it, I really want to go back to Italy again — or at least spend some time with Kate Hudson.

I case you don’t happen to be familiar with hugely successful musicals that are now turned into terrific films, NINE follows the life of world famous film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) as he reaches a creative and personal crisis of epic proportion, while balancing the numerous women in his life including his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his film star muse (Nicole Kidman), his confidant and costume designer (Judi Dench), a young American fashion journalist (Kate Hudson), the whore from his youth (Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson) and his mother (Sophia Loren).

Sounds like a handful to me. Although, there are probably worse problems to have then trying to decide between Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Fergie. Anyway, check out this new video from the film after the jump. NINE opens in New York and December 18, followed by a nationwide release on Christmas Day.