As we reported last week, Sam Claflin has joined the international cast of the upcoming Disney sequel Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, starring opposite Johnny Depp and Ian McShane. Here is the official press release that Walt Disney Studios published today:

Sam Claflin has been selected by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Rob Marshall to star in the key role of Philip, a youthful missionary, in Walt Disney Pictures'/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' epic adventure Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth in the blockbuster series of films. Claflin joins Johnny Depp, returning in his iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow, as well as Astrid Berges-Frisbey and an international cast. The film is slated to open on May 20, 2011.

Hailing from the United Kingdom, Sam Claflin attended The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He then won roles in the historical mini-series The Pillars of the Earth, alongside actors Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Matthew Macfadyen and Donald Sutherland, followed by the telefilm The Lost Future.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is directed by Rob Marshall, whose first feature film was the Academy Award®-winning Chicago, followed by Memoirs of a Geisha and Nine. Producer /Jerry Bruckheimer's films include (producing with Don Simpson) Top Gun, and Beverly Hills Cop.

The first three films in the Pirates of the Caribbean series amassed a total international box office of $2.7 billion.

Beginning in June, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will film entirely on location in Hawaii, Great Britain and Los Angeles.