The Norwegian directors will receive the CinemacCon International Filmmakers of the Year Award on March 27 in Las Vegas.

CinemaCon is the biggest cinema trade show in the world organised by US-based National Association of Theatre Owners representing more than 32,000 US screens and additional cinemas and groups in 81 international territories such as the Nordic Cinema Group in Scandinavia. The directing duo’s anticipated fifth instalment in Walt Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (known as Dead Men Tell no Tales in the US) is scheduled to open in Sweden on May 24 and in the US, Denmark, Norway among others on May 26.

CinemaCon’s MD Mitch Neuhauser said in a statement: “If Kon Tiki put these two incredibly talented filmmakers on the map in 2012, then surely Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will see them conquering the universe come May 26. One can only imagine what it must be like to be entrusted with one of the most beloved franchises of all time, and we can’t wait for Captain Jack Sparrow to return to our screens this summer. We are extremely excited to be honouring both Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg as our International Filmmakers of the Year.” This will be the second time since CinemaCon’s creation in 2011 that Nordic filmmakers are celebrated by the National Association of Cinema Owners, after Baltasar Kormákur’s win in 2015.

After their blockbuster experience in the US, the Norwegian childhood friends Rønning and Sandberg will go separate ways for their next feature film. Sandberg will come back home to direct the biopic Roald Amundsen for the directors’ joint prodco Motion Blur. The company’s co-founder and producer Espen Horn told nordicfilmandtvnews that the project is scheduled to start shooting in March-April 2018. The mega-project about the legendary explorer is based on a script by Ravn Lanesskog (The Last King). Casting has not been finalised yet.

As for Rønning, he has various US projects lined up, including the high concept sci-fi film Origin scripted by his brother Andreas Rønning and produced by Pirates of the Caribbean’s Jerry Bruckheimer.

Watch the trailer of Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge