For a while there, it looked as if we might be spared another rushed entry in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, as star/lynchpin Johnny Depp was reportedly not entirely certain he wanted to return. Well apparently the actor realized that he doesn’t own enough houses in France and/or armbands, because now The Wrap reports that Depp is close to a deal to return once again in a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film. (The Wrap now reports that Depp's total profits from the entire franchise so far is $350 million. Holy hell).This really isn’t all that surprising. The latest sequel, On Stranger Tides, just crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box-office. Obviously Disney and everyone involved behind the scenes that stands to make even more money was itching to go back to the well. Hit the jump for more.In December, we reported that the studio was thinking about shooting Pirates 5 and 6 back-to-back, similar to the way Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End were shot. Then in January, franchise staple Terry Rossio was hired to start scripting Pirates 5 (sans writing partner Ted Elliot, who co-scripted the previous four Pirates flicks alongside Rossio).After the mind-numbingly boring On Stranger Tides, I sincerely hope that the studio chooses a director that can actually make an interesting film. I think we all learned from the latest installment that Gore Verbinski (director of Pirates 1-3) is a huge reason the first three films worked (the first one a little moreso). In Pirates Disney has a juggernaut franchise that makes insane amounts of money worldwide, so it’s safe to assume the series won’t be going away any time soon.Depp is currently filming Dark Shadows with director Tim Burton, after which he'll reunite with Verbinski on Disney's The Lone Ranger opposite Armie Hammer. The actor is also poised to team up once again with On Stranger Tides director Rob Marshall on a remake of The Thin Man.