Disney wants to make another installment of its lucrative Pirates of the Caribbean franchise; the studio announced Friday (January 11th) that it has hired Jeff Nathanson to write a screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean 5. Nathanson has no previous history writing Pirates movies, but his resume includes several films that involve capers, trickster characters, and comedy, including Catch Me If You Can, Tower Heist, and Rush Hour 2 and 3. Justin Kroll, who broke the news in Variety, reports that “Jerry Bruckheimer is producing with [Johnny] Depp set to return as Captain Jack Sparrow. Plot details are unknown, and it’s not clear whether thesps from past installments, like Geoffrey Rush or Keira Knightley, would return to reprise their roles.” Kroll makes no mention of a director for Pirates 5.

Dave Trumbore of Collider.com cautions that Johnny may not yet be “set to return” as Captain Jack. “Depp was ‘close’ to signing on for the film back in 2011,” Trumbore writes, “but has yet to officially do so. [. . .] We know that previous reports about the film shooting in and around Puerto Rico turned out to be erroneous and we know that Penelope Cruz hasn’t received any offers of scripts. Not much to go on. What we can count on is that Depp will be courted to return for a fifth film as the man is a box office treasure trove.” The full Collider.com article is available HERE.

The Zone thanks Theresa for breaking the news; you can read more about Pirates 5 and its new screenwriter on the Zone’s News & Views forum.