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.