Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales has been in development for a very long time, take from that what you will. It's been a while since we heard any sort of casting news concerning the project, even though it's expected to begin shooting soon in Australia. The film has a release date of July 7th, 2017 with Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg directing.
TheWrap reports that Spanish actor Javier Bardem (Skyfall, No Country For Old Men) has been offered the villain role. He would play ghost pirate Captain Brand, who seeks revenge on Jack Sparrow. Christoph Waltz was the last actor in the mix for the part, but was never given an offer. Waltz is the villain of Warner Bros' Tarzan, so it's unlikely they'll want him here as well. You might remember that Deadline reported on Bardem's desire to play Black Beard in Joe Wright's Pan, the role would eventually go to Hugh Jackman.
Geoffrey Rush is set to return, while it's unknown if we'll see actors like Stephen Graham and Ian McShane return once more. There was also a bit of a teaser at the end of On Stranger Tides that Penelope Cruz would be returning too. I'm sure Disney would love to see the couple in the same film.
SOURCE: THEWRAP
