Which 2003 film was the first in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series?

The first film in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series was The Curse of the Black Pearl, released in 2003. Directed by Gore Verbinski, it introduced Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp, and turned a Disney theme-park attraction into a major adventure-film franchise.

The story begins when Elizabeth Swann is kidnapped by the crew of the Black Pearl, led by the cursed Captain Hector Barbossa. Will Turner, a blacksmith who loves Elizabeth, joins Jack Sparrow in an attempt to rescue her. The pirates are cursed after stealing Aztec gold: they cannot truly live or die, and moonlight reveals their skeletal forms. The curse can be broken only by returning the entire stolen hoard and repaying the blood debt connected to it.

The film’s success led to four sequels: Dead Man’s Chest in 2006, At World’s End in 2007, On Stranger Tides in 2011, and Dead Men Tell No Tales in 2017. Those titles are common mix-ups in this question, especially Dead Man’s Chest, which was the next film rather than the opener. The Curse of the Black Pearl also earned Depp an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.