‘Maleficent 2’ Will Be Directed By ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 5’ Co-Director Joachim Rønning

Angelina Jolie may be busy promoting her latest directorial effort, but she’ll soon be back with horns. The actress recently confirmed she’d return for Disney’s sequel to 2014’s Maleficent, and now the studio has found their director.

Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Rønning will direct Maleficent 2, according to a new report from Deadline. Rønning is best known for co-directing this summer’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Kon-Tiki with Espen Sandberg. Though Rønning will reteam with his directing partner for the sixth Pirates movie, while also helming Jerry Bruckheimer's Origins for Paramount, he’s going solo on this project.

The fifth Pirates installment was a mess and a half, a tired rehashing of the franchise’s earliest gimmicks. But bringing Rønning onboard for Maleficent 2 is more good news than bad. The only redeeming quality about Dead Men Tell No Tales were its visuals. Both Rønning and Sandberg brought some dazzling visual flair to a handful of set pieces, from the split-sea finale to Javier Bardem’s eerie ghost ship. If anything, Maleficent 2 is bound to look pretty great.

The sequel will be penned by original writer Linda Wolverton along with Jez Butterworth (Spectre, Edge of Tomorrow, and Disney’s upcoming Cruella). The original film detailed the origin story of the ominous Sleeping Beauty villain and broke a slew of box office records, bringing in $758.5 million worldwide. The sequel is set to kick off production in early 2018.