Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales has begun shooting at the Village Roadshow Studios and on locations in Queensland, a major boost to employment in the State.
According to Screen Queensland, 75% of the 850-plus crew are Queenslanders and more locals will be employed during the five months of filming.
There will be an estimated 6,100 extras man-days, the majority of which will be local hires. A Queensland production manager was among the first to be engaged.
As IF had reported, Brenton Thwaites is playing Henry, a British soldier, in the Jerry Bruckheimer/Disney production directed by Kon-Tiki’s Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning.
Geoffrey Rush returns as Barbossa alongside Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Javier Bardem as his nemesis Captain Salazar, Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner) as Henry's love interest, Golshifteh Farahani (Exodus: Gods and Kings), Kevin R. McNally as Joshamee Gibbs and Stephen Graham as Scrum.
Australian taxpayers' financial contribution to the production, whose reported budget is about $US250 million, may be as high as $60 million, including a $21.6 million grant from the federal government, the 16.5% location offset and the Queensland government's grants and payroll tax concessions.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides officially holds the record for the most expensive film of recent years, costing $378.5 million.
The screenplay by Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) follows Sparrow and his cohorts as they are pursued by Salazar and ghost pirates who have escaped from the Devil's Triangle.
The 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.
Aussie Kyle Gardiner (San Andreas, Kingsman: The Secret Service) is among the stunt co-ordinators. The crew includes DoP Paul Cameron (Déjà Vu, Collateral), production designer Nigel Phelps (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, World War Z), costume designer Penny Rose (all four Pirates films), visual effects supervisor Gary Brozenich (The Lone Ranger, Edge of Tomorrow), special effects supervisor Dan Oliver (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), makeup and hair designer Peter Swords King (The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies) and editors Joel Cox ( Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, American Sniper) and Gary D. Roach (American Sniper).