It's three years away, but we're already starting the countdown!

Walt Disney Pictures finally announced Wednesday that the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will premiere on July 7, 2017. Originally scheduled for a summer release in 2016, the production was delayed because of script issues. Alice in Wonderland star Johnny Depp, who's played Captain Jack Sparrow in the other four movies, will reprise his role.

Jeff Nathanson, who's known for his work in the Rush Hour sequels and Catch Me If You Can, has been tapped to write the screenplay. "Like audiences around the globe, we have high expectations for Jack Sparrow's next adventure and we want to have all the right elements in place," Disney's production president explained back in 2013 regarding the delay. "We're not there yet and we want to make sure this project is everything these wonderful characters and of course fans deserve."

Depp also expressed his views regarding the script back in April 2014. "Everyone involved wants the script to be right and perfect. So we have gone on to do other things (in the meantime). We are still going to do the film together. I enjoy them immensely. They are super talented. They have a great sense of humor. I think they have a really fun approach to what we are going to do with the next 'Pirates.' Very happily and proudly, I have welcomed taking part in the story and working directly with the screenwriter (Nathanson)-he and I. It's working out really well that way. So I have high hopes for that 'Pirates 5' because if that's really the last one, which it probably is, I feel that we owe it to the audience who went and saw the films so many times. We'll do it right and end it on a high note," he told Philippine-based newspaper, Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview.

Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, who directed the 2006 film Bandidas, will direct Pirates of the Caribbean 5, while Jerry Bruckheimer will continue on as producer.

Plot details for the fifth movie are being kept tightly under wraps, but there have been rumors about a new female lead that will cause trouble for Captain Jack Sparrow, as well as two new romantic leads that will replace the spots left by Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, who joined Depp in the first three installments.

Meanwhile, Depp is currently in the movie Into the Woods, with Emily Blunt, Chris Pine and Meryl Streep.