'Pirates of the Caribbean 5': Here's what's happening with the sequel

The sequel “Pirates of the Caribbean 5,” which will feature Johnny Depp reprising his role as swashbuckler Captain Jack Sparrow, is moving forward. 

According to Variety, actor Delroy Atkinson of “Small Island,” Danny Kirrane of the TV show “Critical,” and “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” actor Adam Brown all recently joined the cast in unknown roles. 

Filming for the movie will start later this month, according to the International Business Times.

In addition to Depp, “The Counselor” actor Javier Bardem and Brenton Thwaites of “The Giver” are on board for the film, according to Variety. The movie will be released in July 2017.

The film series kicked off in 2003 with the release of “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” which starred Depp as the pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, “Hobbit” actor Orlando Bloom as swordsman Will Turner, Keira Knightley of “The Imitation Game” as governor’s daughter Elizabeth Swann, and “The Book Thief” actor Geoffrey Rush as evil pirate Barbossa. The cast stayed the same for two sequels, 2006’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” and the 2007 movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” and the stories of Bloom and Knightley’s characters seemed to conclude with the third film. Depp and Rush returned for a fourth film, the 2011 movie “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” which also starred Ian McShane as pirate Blackbeard and Penelope Cruz as his daughter. 

The first film in the “Pirates” series was mostly praised by critics, with Monitor reviewer David Sterritt writing that “[Depp’s] dandified demeanor is more fun to watch than everything else in the spectacle put together," though he found that "director Gore Verbinski can't figure out to integrate the screenplay's different modes... the movie is marvelously filmed, though." However, the “Pirate” sequels have never been as critically well-received as the first film. “Pearl” currently holds a score of 63 out of 100 on review aggregator website Metacritic, but "Chest" and "World" have a score of 53 and 50, respectively. The newest movie, "Tides," is even lower, with a score of 45.