It's easy money for
Keith Richards to return for '
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides', out next May, but does the movie really require his presence? Yes, we all know
Johnny Depp's rather brilliant, eccentric, actor-defining and Oscar nominated character is modeled as an imtation of the Rolling Stones guitarist but, does that mean Richards has to be in every 'Pirates' movie from here on in? He will again play Sparrow's father: Captain Teague. Probably in a cameo. I'm not particularly looking forward to a fourth movie in this franchise, especially one that pushes Jack Sparrow into the lead (he works better as a supporting character, such as in the first film) and I think I can imagine what a 'Pirates' movie starring
Rob Marshall ('Chicago', 'Nine') would be like in my head... and it's decidedly not the adventurous spirit Gore Verbinski could conjure up when this series worked.
BUT... I want to see what
Ian McShane does with Blackbeard, what the fabulous
Penelope Cruz does with her con-artist love interest, and the addition of
Stephen Graham is a good one. We'll get our first glimpse at 'POTC 4' (May 20th, in Disney 3D!!) with the Dec. 17th release of 'Tron Legacy' as the first trailer will be shown.