Depp returning to the high seas and Cage to continue treasure hunting

Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End
Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End

Variety has reported that Johnny Depp will reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and is preparing to play Tonto in a new adaptation of The Lone Ranger. Both films will be produced by genre-auteur Jerry Bruckheimer, who also announced that and Nicolas Cage are working on a third National Treasure film.

Depp will also play the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s upcoming 3D film Alice in Wonderland, which is scheduled for release in 2010. The new casting deals closed a showcase event on Wednesday, for exhibitors, media and industry insiders, at the Kodak Theater by Walt Disney chairman Dick Cook. The event also featured a full screening of Disney’s upcoming film Bolt, as well as clips from the hand-drawn animated The Princess and the Frog, in which Oprah Winfrey will voice the mother of the princess; Pixar’s next film, simply titled Up; the Rock-starring Race to Witch Mountain update; and Robert Zemeckis’ A Christmas Carol.

Film Fetish Trivia: Stuart Heisler, who directed the 1956 version of The Lone Ranger, also directed Clint Eastwood in many episodes of the 1959 TV series Rawhide.

Below is the trailer for the 1956 Lone Ranger, which starred Clayton Moore as the masked crime fighter, and Jay Silverheels as Tonto.