‘Pirates Of The Caribbean 5’ Spoilers: Orlando Bloom Role Replaced By Brenton Thwaites

After raking in more than $1 billion with 2011’s “Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” despite losing most of its principal cast, it’s no surprise that Disney is putting its sails up for a fifth installment in the popular franchise. Now, it’s been confirmed that the studio has signed Brenton Thwaites to replace Orlando Bloom’s character, Will Turner, in the upcoming film.

“Dead Men Tell No Tales” will be the latest adventure for Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) after the two were the only principle cast members to return for "On Stranger Tides." According to The Hollywood Reporter, 25-year-old Thwaites will play a character named Henry, a British soldier that will act as a sort-of Will Turner replacement. Thwaites’ previous credits include “Maleficent,” “The Giver,” and “Oculus.” E! Online provided a wonderful fact sheet about the recently popular actor.

Bloom’s popular character was the protagonist of the original “Pirates” trilogy, beginning with “Curse of the Black Pearl" in 2003, continued with “Dead Man’s Chest” in 2006 and culminating with “At World’s End” in 2007. However, he declined to appear in the fourth film as did co-star Keira Knightley.

Despite quietly turning down the role in 2011, news broke in September that the actor was interested in returning for the fifth movie. According to The Guardian, while speaking at Oz Comic-Con in Brisbane, Australia, Bloom hinted that he’d be open to reprising the role of Will Turner.

“There have certainly been some discussions about it and I'm open to it. That whole experience working with Johnny and (director) Gore (Verbinski) was really amazing for me,” he said.

It’s unclear if Thwaites’ casting as a Will Turner replacement means Bloom’s “discussions” went poorly or not. It’s possible that everyone involved thought that Will Turner’s storyline had come to a nice conclusion. When last fans saw Tuner, he had defeated Davy Jones and, in doing so, took on his curse. Tuner must ferry souls to the afterlife, doomed to only spend one day every ten years on land. It’s worth mentioning that “Dead Men Tell No Tales” is currently scheduled for a 2017 release date – ten years after Bloom’s character was cursed in the 2007 film.