Keira Knightley at First Skeptical of 'Pirates' Because of Ride

NEW YORK, July 1, 2006 -- Keira Knightley acknowledges she was a bit skeptical at first about appearing in a movie that shared a name with a Disney ride.

"I was like, 'Wait a minute, you're doing a pirate movie - something that hasn't worked in about 50 years - and it's based on an amusement park ride?!" the actress told the New York Daily News for a story published Sunday.

The 2003 film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" went on to be a $650 million worldwide success, and co-star Johnny Depp earned an Oscar nomination for his role.

Knightley appears again in the sequel "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," opening Friday. A third "Pirates" installment is due out Memorial Day weekend next year.

Knightley says it wasn't until she was at the premiere of the first "Pirates" movie with co-star Orlando Bloom that she knew the premise would work.

"Orlando and I were sitting next to each other at the premiere, which was the first time I'd seen it, and we'd had a big talk and decided that if it was awful, we'd still leave the theater all smiles," she said.

"Halfway through the film, I nudged him and said, 'It's quite good, isn't it?' and he was like 'Yeah, it's really good.' We had no idea it would work."

Disney is the parent company of ABC7-TV.

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