'Pirates of the Caribbean' perilously close to deadline

Keira Knightley

With the humongous, celebrity-packed Disneyland premiere of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" right around the corner (June 24), the moviemakers are still putting the final, final touches on the flick that's expected to be another blockbuster for producer Jerry Bruckheimer and stars Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom.

Such down-to-the-wire finishing up of a picture is nothing new for Bruckheimer. But "Pirates 2," which is being released July 7, must be a new high-water mark. Postproduction forces "have been going 24/7 since March," according to one insider.

The legendary Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and his sea phantom minions have required enormous effort from the computer-generated imagery team - far more than did Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and his skeletal crew in the first flick.

On top of that, the long and historically destructive hurricane season last year prevented the team from finishing the third "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, as had been planned. The company will have to return to the Caribbean to complete that one.