Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 American fantasy swashbuckler film directed by Rob Marshall, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. It is the fourth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, following At World's End (2007) as a standalone sequel, and is loosely based on the 1987 novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. Johnny Depp, Kevin R. McNally and Geoffrey Rush reprise their roles from the previous films, with Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane joining the cast. The story follows the eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow on a quest for the Fountain of Youth after crossing paths with Angelica, a mysterious woman from his past, and being forced aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the legendary pirate Blackbeard.

Plot

Around 1750, years after Captain Jack Sparrow acquired Sao Feng's map to find the Fountain of Youth and the Black Pearl stolen by Hector Barbossa, a castaway found in the ocean was brought to King Ferdinand at Cádiz, holding a ship's logbook of Ponce de León, who died 200 years earlier searching for the Fountain. Meanwhile Jack rescues his first mate, Joshamee Gibbs, from execution in London, only to get captured. Gibbs takes Jack's map, while Jack himself meets King George II, who wants him to guide an expedition to locate the Fountain before the Spanish Armada, led by The Spaniard. Barbossa joins the expedition, now as a privateer wearing a peg leg and having lost the Pearl, believed to be sunk. Jack escapes, leading Barbossa to later recruit Gibbs, who memorizes Jack's map before burning it, and they set sail aboard the British Navy ship HMS Providence.