Many hands on deck for latest "Pirates" vid game

LOS ANGELES - Disney Interactive Studios is ready to set sail with a new video game based on "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" that ships May 22, three days before the movie's theatrical launch.

The game will feature the likenesses of the entire cast, including Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann, Chow Yun-Fat as Captain Sao Feng, Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa and Bill Nighy as Davy Jones.

Cary Elwes signed on to play villain Black Bart, who appears exclusively in the game.

Many in the cast provided likenesses and spent time in recording studios around the world creating new dialogue for the game, including Jared Butler, Stellan Skarsgard, Mackenzie Crook, Lee Arenberg, Tom Hollander, Jonathan Pryce, David Schofield, Crispin Freeman and Michelle Lee.

Soundalikes were used for the rest of the cast, including Depp, who provided original voicework for Bethesda Softworks' "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow" PC and PlayStation 2 game, which was released in summer 2006.

Because of the scope of the game, it took three months to record the actors in such locations as Los Angeles, Germany, South Africa and Hungary.

Disney worked with director Gore Verbinski and his team to ensure that the authenticity of the film world was replicated in the game. Screenwriter Terry Rossio, who worked on all three "Pirates" films, contributed dialogue to the interactive adventure, which encompasses about 12 hours of entertainment.

"Of all the studios and filmmakers I've worked with over the years, Gore's team has really been exceptional to us by offering unprecedented access to all of the films' materials and sets and allowing us to really get on and explore the 'Pirates' universe in a lot more detail," said Nick Bridger, senior producer at Disney Interactive Studios.