Ahoy Matey! Samsung has partnered with Disney for an interesting cross-promotion for the latest film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, offering a Pirates-themed version of the Galaxy S8. As reported by Business Insider, the special-edition phone will be exclusively offered in China and will retail for around $900.
Each phone comes packaged in treasure chest packaging styled after the new film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. The loot contained inside includes a Galaxy S8, a special-edition case as well as a collectible ring.
The phone itself is just a standard Galaxy S8 phone, with all the special edition content accessed via the smart clip-on case. Putting the case on the phone changes the phone's UI to a Pirates-themed layout complete with a new background featuring Jack Sparrow and custom app icons.
If you're kind of scratching your head at this cross-promotional offer, consider that China is a huge emerging market for big American blockbusters, which have historically done very well in China. Surprisingly, Dead Men Tell No Tales is the only Pirates film currently on the list of China's top 50 highest-grossing films. With the film currently in theaters, expect it to keep creeping up the list — especially with Disney focusing it's marketing powers and partnering with brands like Samsung.
Meanwhile, for those of us on this side of the ocean who might be interested in this special-edition phone, the package is only being offered through JD.com, so you'll either need to travel over to China to get one or learn how to custom theme your phone without the special edition case.
