The first trailer for the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, has been released, and contains no footage of its central character Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp.
Instead, the teaser features a sequence with the series two new additions, Brenton Thwaites and Javier Bardem – the latter plays a ghost pirate searching for Sparrow, and breaks into a jail to demand the former tell him his whereabouts.
However, the omission of Depp is a surprise, as previous publicity materials have made much of his success in the Sparrow role, and the official synopsis (reproduced below) underlines his centrality to the new film.
Thrust into an all-new adventure, a down-on-his-luck Captain Jack Sparrow finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar (Bardem), escape from the Devil’s Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea ... including him. Captain Jack’s only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact that bestows upon its possessor total control over the seas.
It is possible that recent discord in Depp’s personal life is behind the decision to shift emphasis away from his involvement.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is due for release on 26 May 2017 in the US, UK and Australia.
