January 19, 2005 - Pirates of the Caribbean baddie Captain Barbossa could be returning for the film's forthcoming sequels. That's according to star Geoffrey Rush himself by way of the Dark Horizons website.

"It is not an official announcement," he says, "but at the moment I am on hold until there is a date somewhere late January where I think they are going to roll out the schedule and the scripts.

"They have got a big job ahead of them," Rush says. "They are going to shoot two and three together for logistical reasons and they are certainly determined not to make it a sausage machine project. It seems they are very keen on expanding the possibility of what Barbossa and Jack Sparrow and all the characters get involved in, and I think they are going to take into some quite fantastical and surprisingly new directions."

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer wants to film the sequels back-to-back. The film's principal cast – Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom – are the only ones confirmed to return at this point, but a number of other names have been floated around.

Keith Richards may be joining the cast as Jack Sparrow's father and there are unconfirmed rumors that Salma Hayek could also star.  There's also a rumor that Chow Yun Fat may play infamous 15th century Chinese pirate Cheung Po Tsai in the second and third installments of the swashbuckling film franchise.

We'll keep ya posted on the latest.