London braced for Pirates premiere

Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom will grace the red carpet for the European premiere of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel tonight

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest follows the runaway success of the original hit, The Curse of the Black Pearl.

It also features British stars Bill Nighy, Jack Davenport, Tom Hollander, Mackenzie Crook and Naomie Harris who will be at tonight's glittering event.

Pride and Prejudice star Knightley, 21, has told how she begged the director of the new film to let her share a screen kiss with Depp, who returns as Captain Jack Sparrow.

"I asked the writers to just give me one kiss. I got it. It was good. Really good," she has said.

Knightley's character Elizabeth Swann prepares to wed Will Turner, played by Bloom, 29, in the movie, which is released later this month.

"It's like, 'Wonderful, I can have feelings for both these very beautiful men'," Knightley, who became a star in Hollywood thanks to the original film, has said.

Depp, 43, said he would normally turn down the chance to film a sequel "but in this film millions of kids are getting a kick out of watching this oddball character".

The premiere is at the Odeon in London's Leicester Square.