Disney announces dates for Muppets sequel, Pirates Of The Caribbean sequel, other sequels 

While so much attention has been focused on Disney's new Star Wars movies and who won't direct them, the company would like to remind you that it has plenty of other sequels, acquired franchises, and rehashes of familiar properties in the pipeline that bear no such troublesome surprises. The company today announced a March 21, 2014 release date for its still-untitled Muppets sequel (The Great Muppet Condemnation To Serve Out Their Days Toiling In A Russian Gulag still being considered, apparently), which will be followed April 4 by Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the Sleeping Beauty update Maleficent on July 2, and Guardians Of The Galaxy on August 1.

Disney also confirmed those previous rumors that it might continue to crank out Pirates Of The Caribbean movies for as long as Johnny Depp agrees to shake some beads in front of a giggling, entranced audience, hiring Catch Me If You Can scribe Jeff Nathanson to begin writing the fifth installment, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Just Gettin' Drunk On A Boat, in time for its July 10, 2015 release. Finally, it also picked out a December 19, 2013 debut for its secret Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof sci-fi project 1952—ostensibly an original concept, until you remember it's just a sequel to 1951.