Release Date: May 25
Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush
No film earned a billion box-office dollars more quietly, or with less praise from critics, than Pirates 2 last summer. (It was the third feature in movie history to reach ten figures, after Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.) The third installment could reap a similar bonanza, which is to guess: you will see it, and you will soon forget it. For all the undoubted craft and care that go into the making of such official blockbusters, the fact remains that they are fast-food movies, selling quantities in bulk and zipping through the audience's entertainment digestive system in no time flat.