Speculation of legendary Rolling Stone Keith Richards joining the cast of the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean sequels has been raging on for more than a year now. Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow character exploded after the first film and Depp admitted that Richards was an influence. When news of the sequels traveled down the pipeline, stories immediately leaked that Richards would be playing the wobbly Captain's papa.

Through the shooting of the sequels, through set visits and early talk with the cast and crew, nothing official was confirmed. IGN FilmForce was able to take in a screening of the film earlier this week. Sadly, no Richards appeared.

So now, with the third film left, we took the question to director Gore Verbinski during our exclusive interview and he finally gave the answer we'd all been waiting for. "Keith is definitely going to be in the third movie… It's a small part, but it's a great part." So is he playing the father of Jack Sparrow? "No comment. To be interpreted."