Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (12A) Third part of the swashbuckling series sees the pirates forming an alliance to survive, starring Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom.

IT IS a dark time as the Age of Piracy nears to a close. Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Company has gained control of the terrifying ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman, and its malevolent, vengeful Captain, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy).

The Dutchman now roams the seven seas, unstoppable, destroying pirate ships without mercy, under the command of Admiral Norrington (Jack Davenport).

Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) embark on a desperate quest to gather the Nine Lords of the Brethren Court, their only hope to defeat Beckett, the Flying Dutchman, and his Armada.

But one of the Lords is missing - Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), either the best or worst pirate ever, and now trapped in Davy Jones Locker, thanks to his encounter with the monstrous Kraken.

In an increasingly shaky alliance, our heroes must first travel to dangerous, exotic Singapore and confront Chinese pirate Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) to gain charts, and a ship, that will take them off to world's end, to rescue Jack.

But even if Captain Jack is successfully rescued, the gathering of the legendary Brethren Court may not be enough to hold back the fearsome tide of Beckett, Davy Jones and their powerful Armada unless the capricious sea goddess Calypso, imprisoned in human form, can be freed and convinced to come to their aid.

As betrayal piles upon betrayal, it becomes clear that Jack, Will, Elizabeth, Sao Feng, and Barbossa each have their own agenda, and no one can be trusted. Yet each must choose a side, and make their final alliances for one last battle, in a titanic showdown that could eliminate the freedom-loving pirates from the seven seas - forever.

Success can be a tough taskmasterand coming off of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which garnered more than $1 billion ($1,000,000,000) internationally and took third position for the top grossing films of all time, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski were absolutely determined to once again rise to, and then go beyond, audience expectations.

"It's scary when you make a picture that's such a huge success," confesses Bruckheimer.

"You never quite know. It was against conventional wisdom that a pirate movie based on a theme park ride could be such a hit. Then we came back with the second film, and it's common knowledge in our business that a sequel will make 20 to 30 per cent less than the first one. And yet, Dead Man's Chest made almost double of what The Curse of the Black Pearl took in."

"It's shocking you know," admits Johnny Depp, who plays the charismatic Captain Jack.

"I'm still sort of amazed that so many people in so many corners of the globe embraced the films and Captain Jack, and in a lot of ways just sort of claimed ownership of the character.

"Nothing like this has ever happened to me, but what's happened with Pirates hasn't happened to many people. It's very, very moving and emotional, the idea that people feel this very strong connection with Captain Jack. You know, seeing little kids dressed up as the character, talking like him. It's just amazing."

"There's a certain amount of guilt that Elizabeth feels about having delivered Jack to the Kraken at the end of Dead Man's Chest," says Keira Knightley (pictured left) of her increasingly strong-minded and determined character.

"But I think that was something that had to be done at the time. But then she finds out that actually, what they really need to do is save him. Elizabeth is certainly more than the girl who stands in the corner by this point in the story. It's been great to play a girl who's strong and interesting, and isn't afraid of a fight."

Playing newcomer Captain Teague, Keeper of the Code, is Keith Richards, legendary guitarist of the Rolling Stones, who was an inspiration for Depp when he first took the role of Captain Jack.

"The sort of connection I made when first thinking about Captain Jack," says Depp, "was the idea that pirates were the rock and roll stars of that era. Their myths or legends would arrive months before they would ever make port, much like rock stars."