Earlier this year, Disney hired the BAFTA-nominated Jeff Nathanson to pen the script for the much-anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean 5.
Talk of a sequel has been circling since 2011’s highly successful Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which took more than a billion dollars at the global box office, and stands tall as the 11th highest-grossing film of all time.
Whilst we’ve not heard anything official on the director’s front, it looks like that might soon be changing. Deadline report that the studio are narrowing their short list for the next person to take the helm for the franchise, and have heard four names of those currently in the mix.
First up is Frederik Bond, who is thought to be a favourite of producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Bond has recently made his feature debut with the Shia LaBeouf-starrer, The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, which premiered at Sundance at the start of the year. Taking on Pirates of the Caribbean 5 would be a huge step in his new feature career, and if he’s a favourite for Bruckheimer, who’s been with the franchise since the beginning, you have to believe he’s a strong contender for the job.
The co-directing team of Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg is described as the hot new candidate, coming off the back of directing the Oscar-nominated Kon-Tiki together. Interestingly, the duo have previously worked with Penélope Cruz, directing her in their feature debut, Bandidas, back in 2006. And whilst there’s no word yet on whether Cruz would be reprising her role in the sequel, the past experience would no doubt be useful if she is.
And finally, word has it that Rupert Sanders is also in the studio’s sights, after making a remarkable feature debut with last year’s Snow White and the Huntsman. Making the transition to Pirates of the Caribbean 5 would be an equally massive game-changing move for Sanders’ already-promising career. And after his incredibly impressive debut, I would personally love to see what he has to offer for the franchise on its next instalment.
As of yet, all we know is that Johnny Depp will (of course) be reprising his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow, and it’s more than likely that a few familiar faces will be back for another outing alongside him. Exactly who will be along for the ride remains to be seen, but hopefully we won’t have much longer to wait before we find out.
Disney have already set Pirates of the Caribbean 5 for release in July 2015. And with that release date in place, and production expected to begin either late this year or early next, we should be hearing something concrete on their choice for the director’s chair very soon.
