Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has another update on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. As it stands, the movie series has been dead in the water since the release of the fifth movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, in 2017. There has been an increased fan demand in seeing Johnny Depp come back once again as Captain Jack Sparrow for Pirates of the Caribbean 6 after he came out ahead in his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.
In any case, the plan for Pirates 6 seems to be to start fresh with an all-new cast. Previously, Bruckheimer said that there were two different Pirates of the Caribbean projects in the works at Disney, one of which would follow Margot Robbie as the lead character. In a new interview with THR, he says that the screenplay without Robbie, which follows a younger cast playing the pirates, is much closer to getting greenlit. As the Robbie version still has more work to be done, that one likely wouldn't be getting made first.
As Bruckheimer explained when asked why getting a new Pirates movie going was so hard to accomplish:
"Oh God, they’re all hard. I think we’re getting very close on that one, too. We have a very good script. We developed two of them — the one with Margot Robbie and one with a younger cast. The Margot Robbie one needs a little more work. The younger cast one is close. Hopefully we’ll get both of them."
In response to Robbie stating that her Pirates movie is dead, Bruckheimer also had this to say.
"It’s alive for me. It’s alive for Disney. I’m sure she was disappointed it didn’t go first — or maybe not because she’s very busy, so it might be a blessing to push this a bit. We believe we’ll get it made. It’s a very strong story."
Is Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow Finished?
It remains unclear if Johnny Depp will ever be involved in any Pirates of the Caribbean movies. While he testified during his defamation trial that he wouldn't be interested, feeling "betrayed" by his firing, he could possibly change his mind given his love for the character. He just recently suited back up as Jack Sparrow for a Make-a-Wish recipient, so he's still willing to slip back into that persona when necessary.
In any case, Bruckheimer says that the franchise won't be killing off Jack Sparrow, as they'd already "tried to kill him" and it didn't work. But he can't confirm or deny the potential return of Jack Sparrow in Pirates 6 at this time. When asked if Disney execs would be open to having Depp return for the next film, following the outcome of his trial, Bruckheimer said that this was what he was hoping for, but it's not exactly his call.
"You’d have to ask them. I can’t answer that question. I really don’t know. I would love to have him in the movie. He’s a friend, a terrific actor and it’s unfortunate that personal lives creep into everything we do."
For now, Pirates of the Caribbean 6 hasn't yet been greenlit, and time will tell if Jack Sparrow ever returns on the big screen.