Tech issues on the site prevented this from being posted yesterday. The info below still seems to be in play, so here you go...
Merrick here...
Given that ON STRANGER TIDES - the fourth installment in the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise - made like a billion dollars or something (I'm not exaggerating here, it actually HAS made over a billion dollars), the notion of a fifth movie in the series seems beyond inevitable.
It's now looking like Johnny Depp is close to reprising Jack Sparrow for a fifth movie; not surprisingly, the potentiality of this was discussed long before TIDES actually hit theaters.
Scuttlebutt preceding PIRATES 4's release also had ON STRANGER TIDES director Rob Marshall returning for another go round - which certainly seems to be a safe bet, although his return has yet to be officially announced.
Per THIS report at TheWrap...
Update: Another individual close to the franchise said that a rough draft for the script was in, and that producer Bruckheimer and others were meeting intensively - three and four times a week - on improving it. A deal will depend on whether Depp likes the script, but this individual said the broad strokes were in place for a deal with the lead actor.
Presumably, the draft they're referring to was generated by by Terry Rossio, who co-wrote the first four films alongside long time co-scripter Ted Elliot. A few months back we heard that Rossio was getting to work on PART 5, apparently solo this time (at least for now?)
As of today, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES is still playing in a number of theaters, although it's forthcoming Blu-Ray is already up for pre-order HERE.
— follow Merrick on Twitter ! ---
