User blog:J Fan/Happy New Year! First POTC news of 2015

Ahoy, mateys! First, I hope everyone had a very Happy Holiday(s), whether it was mainly Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc. And you all know we just came aboard the new year - 2015 is here at last! And quite coincidentally, or perhaps fortune continues to favor us, we have the very first set of Pirates of the Caribbean news on this day...or this week, anyway. So let's take a look at the latest, shall we?


 * 1) Last month, it was reported that five actresses were "being tested" for a role in the fifth Pirates film. It was posted last week that Gabriella Wilde (Endless Love and Carrie) may have landed the role now claiming to be Elizabeth Swann, originally portrayed by Keira Knightley in the first 3 films. Criticisms aside, this report can easily be put under "rumor" as Disney hasn't officially said anything, and no big movie news site has covered this. Furthermore, the original report of the potential actress(es) said that the role was the love interest for Brenton Thwaites' character "Henry". Either way, Elizabeth or not, it appears Gabriella Wilde may appear in Pirates 5 as some female character, but this has yet to be confirmed.
 * 2) From The Courier-Mail and Gold Coast Bulletin, it appears that we may have a new Black Pearl for Pirates 5. According to the report(s), the Rainbow Gypsy will spend the next few weeks being almost completely overhauled to star as the Black Pearl, previously portrayed by the Sunset before it was converted to the Queen Anne's Revenge. The ship, a 15-year-old replica of an 1897 Scottish bawley, sailed in to the Gold Coast yesterday to start the extensive refit, which will include a new bowsprit and reconfigured decks and cabins. It is also believed the Rainbow Gypsy will have further refits to feature as up to three other ships. Like the above, this series of reports are unconfirmed for now.
 * 3) From ComingSoon.net, a reader named Andrew Thompson decided to share some photos (which you can see below) of a set being constructed somewhere in Gold Coast Hinterland in Queensland, Australia. A few months ago, it was confirmed that Pirates 5 would be shooting in Queensland, Australia...and while this latest report says "first look", I believe this is the same set that was looked at early last month. So I'm afraid it isn't new news, but it's better than nothing. For the curious, see the new images below!

Slated to be released in theaters on July 7, 2017, Pirates 5 is intended to get camera's rolling in the coming months. Johnny Depp is reprising his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow, while Geoffrey Rush will return as Captain Barbossa (which has been confirmed, by the way!). Javier Bardem and Brenton Thwaites are reported to appear in the film; Bardem is the film's villain, Captain Brand, and Thwaites as British soldier "Henry". And I'm sure I already mentioned that five actresses were considered up for the role of Henry's romantic interest...rumor(s) to the contrary, I suppose. At any rate, with co-director Joachim Rønning posting updates on his instagram account every now and then, Pirates 5 seems to be sailing well!

What say you, Pirates fans? Do you like the new set being built so far? What about the Rainbow Gypsy as (maybe) the new Black Pearl? Or maybe any of the other stuff I mentioned above? Please leave a comment below, and these be the last friendly words ye'll hear!