Iconic guitarist Keith Richards was last seen on the silver screen walking around with a shrunken head in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Ever since the 4th installment was greenlit the producers (and Depp) have been pushing to have him reprise his role as Captain Teague, aka father Sparrow.

With his new book recently released, Richards is once again in the news – and now comes word via Reuters that he has signed on for number 4, On Stranger Tides. While filming for this 3D (of course) epic has been going on since June, only this weekend did the Richards signing officially break, so his role is likely to be roughly the same size as it was in the last film.

At World’s End was a piece of trash but it had its moments – most notably of course the Depp/Richards scene. They need to get back to the swashbuckling silliness of the original and stay away from the glut of the two sequels, if they hope to have the new one be worth anything. The Richards signing is fine and expected, but hopefully with Ian McShane as Blackbeard this one will be more focused.

This thing is set to be unleashed on May 20, 2011.