Depp set for fourth 'Pirates' voyage

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Hollywood actor Johnny Depp has signed on to star in a fourth installment in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise, Disney announced.

Depp played the quirky buccaneer Captain Jack Sparrow in the first three "Pirates" pictures, which were produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and which reportedly have earned the studio $2.6 billion at the box office.

Variety.com said Disney has also signed Depp to play Tonto in "The Lone Ranger," as well as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's imagining of "Alice in Wonderland."

The casting decisions were made Wednesday at the Kodak Theater where Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook unveiled the studio's upcoming slate of projects during an event for thousands of exhibitors, media and other industry insiders.

It was also announced the sequel to Disney-Pixar's "Cars" will be released a year earlier than planned and is now scheduled to hit theaters in the summer of 2011, and that Oprah Winfrey will lend her voice to a character in the animated film "The Princess and the Frog," Variety.com said.

In addition, Bruckheimer and actor Nicolas Cage announced they will be reuniting for a third "National Treasure" flick.