MUMBAI: Penelope Cruz is set to join the pirates‘ deck as she will join the battalion to star opposite Johnny Depp in the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Christened Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the film revolves around the story of the Fountain of Youth and will hit theatres in May 2011. 

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the script for the film has been written by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot.

Also, Gore Verbinski, who directed the original hit film and subsequent sequels, will not direct the new installment and neither Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, Depp‘s former co-stars, star in the new sequel.