After a failed attempt to rescue his former first mate, Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally) in London, England, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is brought before King George II (Richard Griffiths), who wants Jack to guide an expedition to the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish locate it. Heading the expedition is Jack's old nemesis, Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), now a privateer in service to the British Navy after having lost Jack's ship, the Black Pearl, as well as his leg.
Jack escapes, but his father, Captain Teague (Keith Richards), finds him and warns Jack about the Fountain's tests. He also reveals that someone is impersonating Jack. The impostor is Angelica (Penélope Cruz), Jack's former lover and daughter of the ruthless pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), who possesses supernatural powers and practices voodoo magic.
Jack is taken aboard Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, and forced to lead the way to the Fountain, and to find two silver chalices once belonging to Juan Ponce de León, believed to be aboard his grounded ship. The Fountain's water must be drunk simultaneously from the two chalices. The person drinking from the chalice containing a mermaid's tear has his life extended, while the other person dies, his years of life drained from his body. Meanwhile, Gibbs, having memorized and destroyed Sparrow's map, barters with Barbossa to guide him to the Fountain.
