The mayor of Port Douglas said the town was ready to roll out the rum barrels for Pirates of the Caribbean 5, despite rumours the  film would base all of its production on the Gold Coast.

One local pub had even offered a tempting bounty for star Johnny Depp – a free counter meal and beer for every day that production filmed in the north Queensland tourist mecca.

The natural beauty of Port Douglas and its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef had been one of the key attractions for producers when scouting locations for the $250 million production, subtitled Dead Men Tell No Tales.

But Port Douglas Shire mayor Julia Leu said the council has had no dealings with Disney or Jerry Bruckheimer Films since December.

"Council has worked hard with Disney representatives to identify potential locations, facilitate any planning requirements and basically provide any assistance required over many months last year," she said.

"We've spoken with Screen Queensland to get clarification on the situation several times but Screen Queensland informed us they do not know either if the Pirates producers still intend to film around Port Douglas."

But Cr Leu said the town was willing and able to jump onboard at short notice.

"The potential economic benefits for the Douglas region in the short and long term are substantial, and the hard work by Council staff to identify and prepare any potential sites has largely been done," she said.

Cr Leu also cited concerns train movements through the Gold Coast hinterland could be loud enough to force a halt to filming every time one passed the set.

"We have read with interest about the production potentially being interrupted on the Gold Coast due to train movements and we can assure you this isn't an issue in our beautiful part of the world," she said.

In a statement, Screen Queensland said Port Douglas was one of a number of locations initially scouted.

"Locations are considered for a range of reasons including what is in the script, accessibility and facility and crew bases in the area. It is common that due to such factors including script changes or schedule changes that these locations may change," it said.

"The film is still finalising locations, however we are not in a position to advise the final list of locations at this stage."

In its media release announcing the official start of filming, Disney referred to the production being filmed "entirely at Village Roadshow Studios and on locations within Queensland, Australia".

General manager of the Central Hotel Helen Colvin said Port Douglas had last seen Hollywood stars during filming of the 2008 Matthew McConaughey/Kate Hudson adventure film Fool's Gold.

"They actually filmed at the Central, so that was quite a good time," she said.

"Locals are pretty easy-going, so I'm sure he [Johnny Depp] would fit right in."

Ms Colvin said the hotel would love to see Captain Jack Sparrow become a regular, and so had offered to feed and water the star every day.

"We have all the usual pub grub – our parmies are excellent, we do quite a nice steak," she said.

"We've also got a brand new kitchen opened up to do pizzas as well, so there's quite a variety he can choose from."

Ms Colvin said townfolk remained excited at the prospect of filming taking place in Port Douglas and producers would be mad to pass up the opportunity.

"It's absolutely beautiful, the best country in the world."