175,000 blue balls for the crab wave in Pirates 3
According to AlloCiné, 175,000 plastic balls were shot over ten meters high to create the famous crab wave.
In the third installment Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and his crew are swamped by tiny crabs that burst from the mouth of the goddess Calypso, played by Naomie Harris. The now-iconic sequence shows the crustaceans flooding the ship before falling back into the water.
According to AlloCiné, no army of crustaceans was mobilized: the special-effects teams used 175,000 blue plastic balls, similar to those found in ball pits, launched more than ten meters into the air. These projectiles served as a base before digital post-production gave them the appearance of crabs.
The visual proof was shared on AlloCiné's Instagram account, showing the final render of the crab wave. This trick allowed the creation of a spectacular scene while keeping the shooting constraints under control.