'Pirates of the Caribbean 5' Release Date, Cast News: Producer Jerry Bruckheimer Ready for More

After more than ten years of blockbuster-after-blockbuster releases, Walt Disney is once again ready to release the latest addition to its massively successful 'Pirates of the Caribbean' film franchise.

According to reports, the fifth and rumored final installment to the Disney Pirate series was originally set to premiere in 2016, but was later on moved to July 7th of 2017 due to script and budget issues.

The upcoming film will retain legendary and original Pirates star, Johnny Depp, as Captain Jack Sparrow. There is no confirmation, however, of who the rest of the cast are.

Previous Pirates directors Gore Verbinski and Rob Marshall will be succeeded by Kon-Tiki directors Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg in the forthcoming movie by the Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

The 50-year-old Hollywood super star Johnny Depp first starred in the smash-hit film in 2003, 'The Curse of the Black Pearl', alongside Keira Knightley, who played the lady-turned-pirate Elizabeth Swann, and Orlando Bloom who played pirate fighter Will Turner. The cast went on to play the same characters in two more succeeding films: 'Dead Man's Chest' in 2006, and 'At World's End' a year after that.

Knightley and Bloom later on dropped off the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise after the 2007 installment, 'At World's End'. Years after, Depp was joined by Penelope Cruz, who played Captain Jack Sparrow's former love, Angelica, in the 2011 installment 'On Stranger Tides'. There is no news, however, of Cruz joining the 'Pirates of the Caribbean 5' film.

Meanwhile, while the fifth Pirates movie production is being finalized, Depp is set to star in yet another Disney film franchise, 'Alice in Wonderland 2', which has a release date of May 2016.

The Pirates movies grossed a total of about $3.7 billion in the box office throughout the years.