13 years after Will Turner first leaves Elizabeth Swann aboard the Flying Dutchman, Will is visited by his twelve-year-old son, Henry. Will is still bound to the Dutchman, but Henry says that he can be freed from his curse by the Trident of Poseidon. Although his father tells him to accept his fate, Henry intends to recruit pirate Captain Jack Sparrow to help find the Trident.
Nine years later, Henry is a sailor aboard a British Navy ship, which sails into the supernatural Devil's Triangle, where the sailors come across the ghost ship Silent Mary and are slaughtered by ghosts led by the Spanish Navy pirate hunter, Captain Armando Salazar. Salazar leaves Henry as the sole survivor so that he can deliver a message of revenge to Jack. Jack, as a young pirate, had tricked Salazar into entering the Triangle, causing his death but also inadvertently cursing his ship and crew as the undead.
On Saint Martin, young astronomer Carina Smyth is sentenced to death for witchcraft but escapes and crosses paths with Jack, who has been suffering from a spell of bad luck since his last adventure, as his pirate crew botches a bank robbery. Jack later trades his compass for a drink, an act that destroys the Devil's Triangle and frees Salazar's ghostly crew to seek revenge. Carina learns Henry is looking for the Trident's location and offers to help him using her unknown father's diary. Upon their arrests, Carina and Jack stall the execution process, but they escape with the help of Henry and Jack's crew. They all set sail on the Dying Gull, where Carina deciphers the clues in her diary, discovering that the stars will lead to an island where the Trident is hidden.
Meanwhile, Captain Hector Barbossa is informed that Salazar has attacked three pirate ships of Barbossa's fleet. Shansa, a sea witch, tells Barbossa that the Trident could lead him to a "treasure" and gives him Jack's compass. Barbossa makes a deal with Salazar by offering to help find Jack. Salazar pursues the Dying Gull, forcing Jack, Henry, and Carina to flee to an island, discovering that Salazar's crew cannot go on land. Barbossa allies himself with Jack, releasing the miniaturized Black Pearl that was trapped in a bottle by Blackbeard, and taking command of it once more as they continue their journey to the Trident's island. During the voyage, Jack and Barbossa realize Carina is Barbossa’s long-lost daughter.
The Silent Mary destroys a British Navy warship and battles the Pearl until it runs aground on the Trident's island. Jack, Barbossa, and Carina use the island's magic to part the ocean, which opens a path to the Trident on the ocean floor. Salazar captures Henry and possesses him to walk on the ocean floor and seize the Trident. Once he does so, Henry is given his body back, and Jack distracts Salazar, allowing Henry to destroy the Trident, breaking all curses upon the sea and restoring Salazar's crew to life. However, the Trident's destruction causes the divided sea to close in on them. The Pearl lowers its anchor to lift the group to safety, but Salazar pursues them.
Carina realizes that Barbossa is her father when she spots a tattoo of the Trident's star formation, identical to the diary's cover, on his arm. Barbossa sacrifices himself to kill Salazar, allowing the others to escape. Shortly afterwards, Carina names herself "Barbossa" before Henry and Carina go to Port Royal, Jamaica. Henry and Carina kiss before Henry reunites with Will, now free from the Dutchman, on land. Will then embraces and kisses Elizabeth immediately afterwards. After watching the reunion from aboard the Pearl, Jack, now its captain once again, adopts Barbossa's monkey "Jack" before sailing away into the horizon.
In a post-credits scene, Will and Elizabeth are asleep in a bedroom when the shadow of Davy Jones enters. When the figure moves closer with his claw, Will wakes up to see nobody in the room. Assuming it was a nightmare, Will turns toward his wife and goes back to sleep, unaware of the barnacles lying on the floor next to the bed.
Shortly before the release of On Stranger Tides, the cast and crew of the fourth film were told to set aside time in the near future, because Walt Disney Pictures intended to shoot a fifth and sixth film back-to-back. However, it was later stated that only a fifth film was in the works, with Terry Rossio writing a script for a fifth film without his partner Ted Elliott. Rob Marshall was rumoured to return to direct, but declined after choosing to direct Into the Woods (2014). After Marshall passed on the film, many directors were rumored to take over.
Reception
With an estimated production budget of $230–320 million, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales grossed $172.6 million in the United States and Canada, and $623.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $795.9 million. It had a worldwide opening of $271.4 million from 55 markets, with $24 million coming from 1,088 IMAX screens. The film's six-day opening gross pushed the franchise gross past the $4 billion mark.
Officer Cole: You will not address the captain, boy.…
Captain Armando Salazar: [to the only survivor of a ship he attacked] Jack Sparrow... [holds up a wanted poster of Jack Sparrow] Do you know this pirate?
Henry: Only by name.
Captain Armando Salazar: Find S-Sparrow for…
Astronomer: Help! There's a witch in my shop! [Jack enters] And a pirate! There's a witch and a pirate in my shop!
Captain Jack Sparrow: Well, it's your lucky day! Have either of the four of you seen my bank?
Carina: I'm not looking for trouble.
Captain Jack Sparrow: What a horrible way to live.
Scrum: [After seeing that the bank vault Jack's crew have stolen is empty] It's empty! [the crew groan] Where's the dosh?!
Captain Jack Sparrow: Do you think that robbing a bank is easy? You gaggle of gutless heels of…