The next instalment of Disney's blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean film series looks set to shoot in Australia after ministers approved tax incentives worth a reported $20.2m (£12.1m).

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will be the fifth movie in the franchise, which has so far taken $3.7bn worldwide. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the new film will replace David Fincher's delayed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remake on the Australian film production slate. It is likely to shoot in Queensland and could receive further financial incentives from state-level bodies.

"The government is pleased to agree to Disney's request to enable earlier funding to be repurposed for the production of Pirates of the Caribbean 5," said a spokesman for the Australian arts minister, George Brandis. It is understood 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which was due to star Brad Pitt, is currently in limbo after Fincher quit in July last year.

The Queensland Times reports that Dead Men Tell No Tales will be filmed at Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast, which is equipped with a number of special tanks suitable for the production. Disney has also scouted locations in the far north of the state, which boasts a number of tropical rain forests and the Great Barrier Reef.

Johnny Depp will return in the lead role of Captain Jack Sparrow, with the film scheduled to hit cinemas in summer 2017. Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, the Norwegian directors of the 2012 drama Kon Tiki, are due to take charge of the cameras for the first time on a Hollywood production.