The Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 wishlist

The current running box office total for Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is seeing the film head towards $700m worldwide, which should remove any doubt whatsoever that we'll be seeing Pirates Of The Caribbean 5 in due course. In fact, a script has already been delivered to Disney, to get the wheels in motion.

The early signs are that Disney will be looking for another director to take this particular ship forward. Gore Verbinski helmed the first three films, and then Rob Marshall, of Chicago fame, directed the fourth. For the fifth movie, though, Disney has apparently rounded up a collection of possible helmers for the project, which seems to have a hint of Casablanca's round up the usual suspects about it.

Tim Burton, for instance, is apparently the studio's top pick, not least because he gave Disney a $1bn box office hit in Alice In Wonderland. Sam Raimi, too, is on the list, along with Chris Weitz (Twilight: New Moon) and Shawn Levy (the Night At The Museum movies, Real Steel).

Perhaps the most interesting choice is Alfonso Cuaron, the man who very suddenly injected fresh life and vigour into the Harry Potter movies, with Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban.

Disney is, apparently, keen for Rob Marshall to return, but the director doesn't appear to have given the studio an answer, hence it's making sure it has a plan B, with an alternate list of directors. Burton, meanwhile, was linked with the fourth film in the series, before Marshall was given the job.

Our position on this remains the same. You can get who you want in to direct the film, but the problem with the last three Pirates movies has been the script first and foremost. It's a change in that department that's more urgently required than a change of director.

Here's the latest on the story at Cinema Blend.