Pirates of the Caribbean Could Shoot In Spring

Geoffrey Rush has revealed that the fourth instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise could begin filming in the spring of 2010.

The actor also revealed that he will reprise the role of Captain Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which sees him team up with Jack Sparrow to find the Fountain of Youth.

The actor told MTV: "They're waiting for the screenplay writers to put together something that's beyond the trilogy, take it off into a new direction so that it's fresh and hopefully really interesting for an audience, that they're not going to just sausage-machine out something else, which wouldn't be so good."

This announcement comes just days after actor Johnny Depp revealed that involvement in the project was under threat after  the departure of Disney chief executive Dick Cook last Friday.

He will now have to wait to see the script for 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' before he will commit to the movie.

Despite the possible return of the franchise both Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom will not be reprising their roles of Elizabeth Swan and Will Turner.

The first three movies were massive hits at the box office collectively grossing over $2 billion.