The «Pirates of the Caribbean» franchise has received a long-awaited update, but it is unlikely to please Johnny Depp fans.
According to insider journalist Jordan Rumi of the website World of Reel who has revised the production schedule, the new «Pirates of the Caribbean» will start filming at the end of 2025. There are no details about the plot and cast, but Rumi is sure that Johnny Depp will not return to the role of Captain Jack Sparrow.
Earlier, franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed in an interview with EW that two new films are in the works — one, probably, with the star of «Suicide Squad» and «Barbie» Margot Robbie.
«These are two different films. We hope to make them both. I think Disney will agree and Margot Robbie will also».
According to rumors, the first film will be a «complete reboot» of the franchise with a completely new cast, while the second will have a connection to the previous films, but will focus on women (Margot Robbie is to take the lead in this one).
The script for one of the projects was allegedly already offered by «The Last of Us» showrunner Craig Mazin and longtime «Pirates» writer Ted Elliot, but was later rewritten by Jeff Nathanson (Bruckheimer confirmed the latter’s participation).
«Nathanson wrote a wonderful third act. We just need to rework the first and second».
The «Pirates of the Caribbean» franchise has brought Disney about $4.5 billion in total: the first part of the series, «Curse of the Black Pearl», was released in 2003, and after it grossed $653 million in the US alone, the company decided to shoot two sequels at once using the «back-to-back» method (i.e., they were released with a short break of one year).
In total, the world saw five parts of the «pirate adventure» starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley. However, after the release of the last one in 2017, many events happened — related to the actor in one of the main roles. Disney turned its back on Johnny Depp amid accusations of physical and emotional abuse by his ex-wife Amber Heard. In the end, the trial ended in the summer of 2022 with a resounding victory to actor, but he said at the time that he would not return to Disney even for $300 million.