An estimated 15,000 fans began lining up as early as 6:30am on Main Street at Disneyland's Magic Kingdom last Saturday for the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The park opened and closed early to accomodate the event which duplicated last June's historic Dead Man's Chest red carpet treatment. Invited guests each paid $1500 to attend the screening, with all proceeds going to The Make-A-Wish Foundation.

While Keira Knightley was back in England filming The Edge of Love, her co-stars Johnny Depp, Chow Yun Fat, Orlando Bloom, Jack Davenport, Geoffrey Rush, Bill Nighy, Jonathan Pryce, Tom Hollander, Lee Arenberg, Marty Klebba, and Naomie Harris were all on hand for the festivities. And the surprise guest of the evening was Rolling Stones' legend Keith Richards, who makes his long-anticipated appearance as Captain Jack's father.

As has been the case with the first two films, a massive screen was erected on Tom Sawyer Island -- which is currently undergoing rennovation to incorporate a Pirate-theme -- with the audience seated on risers between Frontierland and New Orleans Square.

While the buzz coming out of press screenings has reported At World's End is 75% talk and 25% action, director Gore Verbinski says we shouldn't go into the film with any expectations, "It's our job to create something the audience hasn't imagined." And producer Jerry Bruckheimer added, "The last 40 minutes of this movie is the most exciting filmmaking I've been involved with." You can decide for itself when Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End opens nationwide Thursday, May 24 starting at 8pm.