The dethroning of Disney chairman Dick Cook won’t stop the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film. Johnny Depp is no longer gung-ho for Pirates 4 but Geoffrey Rush certainly is. In an interview with MTV, Rush confirmed his involvement in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

He may have been out of the loop when it came to the film’s newly announced title but he did have some details to share concerning the status of the screenplay. Rush explained, “They're waiting for the screenplay writers to put together something that's beyond the trilogy, take it off into a new direction so that it's fresh and hopefully really interesting for an audience, that they're not going to just sausage-machine out something else, which wouldn't be so good." Rush is definitely reprising his role as Captain Barbossa and has been told to keep his schedule open for filming expected to begin in the spring of 2010.

Cook’s departure made the road to Pirates 4 a rocky one, but it’s still happening. Whether or not Jack Sparrow’s beard braids are in a bunch, Disney is trudging along and keeping the film on track for a Summer 2011 release.