Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides film provided him a long-awaited opportunity to work with Depp, and that his directing was helped by his experience as a choreographer—"the action sequences felt like big production numbers." On September 11, 2009, at Disney's D23 convention during a Disney event, Cook and Johnny Depp, in full Captain Jack Sparrow costume, announced that a fourth "Pirates" film was in development. The title was announced as "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides". Marshall visited the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland for inspiration, eventually paying homage with a skeleton holding a magnifying glass in Ponce de León's ship. An
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides explained Cook was one of the few who accepted his portrayal of Jack Sparrow: "When things went a little sideways on the and others at the studio were less than enthusiastic about my interpretation of the character, Dick was there from the first moment. He trusted me". During production of "" and "At World's End", writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio discovered Tim Powers' 1987 novel "On Stranger Tides", which they considered a good foundation on which to base "a new chapter" in the "Pirates" series. Disney bought the rights to the novel in April 2007. Rossio stated that he