Grateful theater owners said “Thanks for the blockbusters” to Jerry Bruckheimer on Thursday night by giving the producer a Lifetime Achievement Award on the final night of this year’s ShoWest convention. “Hopefully, there’s more to come,” said Mr. Bruckheimer, who has Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in theaters on May 28th, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice with Nicolas Cage opening on July 16th, and the 4th installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, On Stranger Tides, set to begin filming in June. Johnny Depp will return in his Oscar-nominated role as Captain Jack Sparrow, and will be joined by Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush as Barbossa, and Ian McShane as Blackbeard.

On Stranger Tides picks up where At World’s End left off, says David Germain of the Associated Press, “as Sparrow embarks on a new quest with a map to the fountain of youth in hand.” Producer Bruckheimer told AP that “he did not yet know if On Stranger Tides” would be a stand-alone adventure or if it would spawn another sequel. “When we made the first one, it was only going to be one movie,” he said. “So you never know. If Johnny stays in love with the character, hopefully we could continue it.”

As for the new characters in On Stranger Tides, the producer confirmed to MTV News that Ian McShane will be playing “the nastiest pirate ever” and that Penelope Cruz will play a “feisty” character who may engage in “a little romance” with Captain Jack.

Will On Stranger Tides be a 3D pirate adventure? It’s possible, but no final decision has been made, Mr. Bruckheimer told The Hollywood Reporter. Nor has Disney decided whether to shoot in 3D or convert the movie into 3D once it’s shot, as they did with Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. On Stranger Tides will film in Hawaii this summer: “We have to see if the cameras can take the stress of the jungle,” Mr. Bruckheimer said.

The Zone thanks Emma and Theresa for the news; you can read more about On Stranger Tides on the Zone’s News & Views forum.