EXCLUSIVE: Joachim Rønning, who helmed Jerry Bruckheimer’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales for Disney, is in talks to direct another Disney tentpole franchise: the sequel to the studio’s 2014 worldwide box office hit Maleficent. Angelina Jolie confirmed to Deadline last month that she will to return as the lead character based on the nemesis first introduced in the studio’s 1959 fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. The project is expected to go before the cameras in the first quarter of 2018.

Jez Butterworth and Linda Woolverton had been working on the script for producer Joe Roth, we’ve been told. Rønning also has been attached to direct the screen version of Michael Crichton’s final novel Micro for Amblin Entertainment and producer Frank Marshall and is expected back on the next Pirates installment for Disney and Bruckheimer. Rønning also is working with Bruckheimer writing and attached to direct Origins, an original pitch that Paramount picked up pre-emptively. His brother Andreas is working with him on the script.

“Deadpool” actor Ed Skrein is in final negotiations to join Disney’s “Maleficent” sequel.

Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning are returning to starring in the fantasy film, with “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” helmer Joachim Ronning to direct.

Exact details behind Skrein’s villain role are currently under wraps.

Joe Roth is producing the film, with Jez Butterworth and Linda Woolverton penning the latest script. Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster wrote most recent draft.

It is not clear where this film will pick up following the first movie, which was based on the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty.” The original story centered on an evil fairy who cursed an infant princess to eternal sleep, only to realize the young girl was the only one who could save the kingdom from its dangerous ruler. “Maleficent” broke several box office records on its way to making $758.5 million worldwide.

Production on the sequel is set to start in 2018.

Just as Maleficent II starts production, it has been confirmed that Robert Lindsay (Wimbledon) is joining the cast, and that Chiwetel Ejiofor is definitely attached. The 12 Years a Slave was previously in talks.

Maleficent II cameras are rolling at the UK Pinewood studios with Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning reprising their roles as the dark fairy Maleficent and Princess Aurora. The characters were based off those in the animated Sleeping Beauty classic.

Also starring and previously announced are Michelle Pfeiffer as Queen Ingrith, Ed Skrein and Harris Dickinson as Prince Phillip. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales director Joachim Rønning is helming off a script by Linda Woolverton and Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster. Producers are Joe Roth and Jolie.

Additional cast members returning from the 2014 film include: Sam Riley (“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” “Control”) as Diaval; Oscar® nominee Imelda Staunton (“Pride,” the “Harry Potter” films) as the pixie Knotgrass; Juno Temple (“Wonder Wheel,” “Atonement”) as the pixie Thistlewit; and Academy Award® nominee Lesley Manville (“Phantom Thread,” “Topsy-Turvy”) as the pixie Flittle.

A fantasy adventure that picks up several years after “Maleficent,” in which audiences learned of the events that hardened the heart of Disney’s most notorious villain and drove her to curse a baby Princess Aurora, “Maleficent II” continues to explore the complex relationship between the horned fairy and the soon to be Queen, as they form new alliances and face new adversaries in their struggle to protect the moors and the magical creatures that reside within.

The first Maleficent opened on May 30 four years ago and amassed more than $750M at the WW B.O.

Angelina Jolie's Maleficent 2 will hit theaters on May 29, 2020