We all knew it was coming. But we didn’t think it would be this bloody soon.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES director Rob Marshall has been talking to THR, and gave them an update on a potential fifth Pirates adventure. Terry Rossio, Marshall’s writer on TIDES, had apparently already handed in a screenplay, but after the very justified kicking Part 4 got, producer Jerry Bruckheimer sent him right back to his MacBook…

“Terry is writing it and he’s working incredibly hard and he did a draft and rethought it all and started working on it again”, Marshall grassed. “You want to make sure you are asking the audience to come back to see an exciting adventure and it has to reach that caliber, and if not there’s no reason to do it. I know Johnny feels the same way: He needs to see a script, but he would be happy — if it’s the right script — to put that hat and sword back on.”

Which leaves us with one question… HOW BAD WAS IT?! Good God, if the criminally boring ON STRANGER TIDES got through the studio system, we dread to imagine what that one was like. Or perhaps Depp has rightly put his foot down and demanded script approval before production can even be thought of? A very smart move considering rushed (and sometimes incomplete) screenplays have plagued this franchise since the first flippin’ sequel.

These movies have all the ingredients to be special – the only thing missing is arguably the easiest of all the elements to get right… a decent script.

We’ll have more on PIRATES 5 as it develops. Or not if you prefer…

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