A female-led Pirates Of The Caribbean movie starring Margot Robbie is still “alive” at Disney, according to producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
In June 2020 it was reported that Disney was in development on a Pirates Of The Caribbean film that reunited Robbie with Birds Of Prey screenwriter Christina Hodson. The project was described as a separate installment from a planned reboot by franchise veteran Ted Elliott and Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin.
Last month, Robbie suggested the female-led spinoff had been scrapped. “We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led – not quite totally female-led, but just a different kind of story, which we thought would’ve been really cool,” Robbie told Vanity Fair. “But I guess they don’t want to do it.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bruckheimer, a longtime producer on the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, has said development on the project is still underway.
Asked why development on the sixth Pirates Of The Caribbean film has been tough, Bruckheimer said: “Oh God, they’re all hard. I think we’re getting very close on that one, too. 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.”
When asked about Robbie’s comments specifically, Bruckheimer said: “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 it’ll get made. It’s a very strong story.”
The producer also addressed the possibility of Johnny Depp returning to the franchise as Jack Sparrow, following the outcome of his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.
“You’d have to ask [Disney]. I can’t answer that question,” Bruckheimer added. “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.”
There have been five installments in the Pirates Of The Caribbean film series, which have all starred Depp. The last was Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in 2017, where Depp starred alongside Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush and Kaya Scodelario.
