'Pirates of the Caribbean 5' eyes directors

Disney is reportedly looking into a number of new directors for the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

The first three Pirates of the Caribbean films were helmed by Gore Verbinski, while the recently released fourth instalment was directed by Rob Marshall. At the present time, Marshall has not yet signed on for a fifth movie, so Disney has allegedly assembled a list of directors to replace him, including Tim Burton, Shawn Levy, Sam Raimi, Chris Weitz and Alfonso Cuaron, according to Cinema Blend.

The top choice for the job is Burton, who has worked with the franchise's star Johnny Depp numerous times before. The studio reportedly wanted Burton for the fourth film as well, but could not negotiate a deal with the acclaimed director.

In addition, Depp has not yet signed on for a fifth film. He recently said that he was unsure of making another Pirates of the Caribbean movie, stating that it would depend on the quality of the script.

Disney has reportedly secured a script for a fifth film, Screen Rant reports. A draft of the screenplay for Pirates 5 was allegedly written even before the most recent instalment was released.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opened to a respectable $90.1 million in the US. It recently broke the UK box office record, earning £11.6 million on its first weekend of release.