The controversial Russell Brand may be hitting the high seas in a blockbuster franchise. According to The Daily Mail, Brand is close to inking a deal to appear in Pirates of the Caribbean 4.

The site reveals that Brand is close to signing a deal to portray Jonathan Sparrow, brother of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow. The deal is said to be upwards of 5 million pounds (almost $8 million US).

"There couldn't be a role more perfectly suited," said an unnamed source. "There's a lot of Jack Sparrow in his mannerisms and behaviour. Depp's accent isn't a million miles away from Russell's either."

Brand has recently been embroiled in controversy when he quit his popular BBC Radio show after a prank call where Brand and his co-host, Jonathan Ross, claimed Brand slept with German actor Andrew Sachs' granddaughter.