Orlando Bloom will appear in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales'.

The 38-year-old actor will reprise his role as 'Bootstrap' Bill Turner in the fifth installment of the film franchise, having bowed out of the series for 2011's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'.

The exciting news was announced by Disney bosses at its D23 Expo over the weekend, with Johnny Depp also returning to star as Captain Jack Sparrow for the film.

The news of Orlando's return to the film - which will hit cinemas on July 7 2017 having recently wrapped filming in Australia - was kept under wraps, even though he confessed he was ''in discussions'' to return last year.

He said: ''There have certainly been some discussions about it and I'm open to it. That whole experience working with Johnny and (director) Gore (Verbinski) was really amazing for me. I had a great time working with Johnny, one of the reasons I jumped at the opportunity was because Johnny was involved.''

Geoffrey Rush, Kaya Scodelario, Brenton Thwaites, Javier Bardem and Kevin McNally are also set to star in the film, although it seems unlikely Orlando's character's love interest Elizabeth Swann, played by Keira Knightley, will return.

Asked about coming back to the franchise back in November, she said: ''No, I don't think so.

''It was an amazing point in my life, but it was a good five-year chunk. It was incredible, but I can't really imagine going back to it.''