Following in the footsteps of off-screen wife Penélope Cruz, who co-starred in 2011’s On Stranger Tides, Oscar winner Javier Bardem has entered talks to play the villain in the long-in-development Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Though talks are in early stages, Bardem would reportedly take on the part of a ghost captain who blames Captain Jack Sparrow (franchise star Johnny Depp) for the death of his brother and seeks a supernatural object to help him enact his vengeance.
Little else is known about the plot of Dead Men Tell No Tales, which will be directed by Kon-Tiki filmmakers Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, though producer Jerry Bruckheimer has confirmed that it will be “more of a straight pirates movie” without all of the fearsome sea beasties that complicated the second and third installments. Geoffrey Rush is returning as Captain Barbossa, and other rumored cast members include Orlando Bloom, Rebecca Hall and Christoph Waltz (though it’s unclear whether Bardem’s talks may mean that Waltz’s amounted to nothing).
Producers are also looking to cast a female lead, a love interest for Captain Jack who is accused of being a witch. One can assume that they looked at Hall for the role, and that’s why her name has been linked to the project, but no casting has yet been announced. Dead Men Tell No Tales will likely firm up soon, though, as a five-month shoot in Australia is being eyed for early next year.
After the lackluster On Stranger Tides, are you still invested in following the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow? Or is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales just another unnecessary entry in a washed-up franchise that should have been torpedoed by Disney long ago? Let us know in the comments.