The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has made billions of dollars for Disney, but it’s been nearly six years since the last film in the franchise was released and no new sequel has begun production. But we do know that one movie is being worked on, and Jerry Bruckheimer talked a bit about the upcoming film, and whether or not Johnny Depp might return to the franchise after all.
Appearing on the red carpet prior to the Academy Awards, where his film Top Gun: Maverick was in contention for some major awards. ET asked Bruckheimer about the future of Pirates of the Caribbean and the producer revealed that he believes the script for the movie is very nearly finished, saying…
We’re all working on it. We’ll see how it comes out. But we’re very excited. I think we’ll have a great screenplay. And we’re getting close.
Originally, there were at least two different scripts for two different Pirates of the Caribbean movies in development. One was being worked on by Christina Hodson and would have starred Margot Robbie in the lead, the second project was being handled by Ted Elliot and Craig Mazin. We learned recently that the Robbie project is no longer in active development. We may still see it someday, but it’s apparently the other script that is currently being polished.
One big question about the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie was whether it would be a complete franchise reboot or would act as a sequel... or at least take place in the same universe as the other films. Bruckheimer seemingly confirmed that the later situation is the case, as it seems that the return of Johnny Depp is at least possible. Bruckheimer, who has made no secret of his desire to bring Depp back, reiterated that belief, and he certainly didn’t shut the door on the possibility. He continued...
We’ll see. I would love it. I would love him in the movie. That’s all I can tell you.
This is a pretty significant change of tone, considering that previously we’d been told that Depp was done with the franchise, and while Bruckheimer admitted to trying to get him back, it seemed that simply wasn’t going to happen. Now, it sounds like that door is at least open a crack. Check out his full comments below.
For Depp’s part, he has talked about what the character of Jack Sparrow means to him, while also indicating it would take quite a lot to get him to return as Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp’s recent legal issues have made him a potentially sensitive topic, but with the recent defamation case found in his favor, it’s possible that opinion could be changing.
