The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been an incredibly popular and successful series of films for Disney. In fact, those films were boosting their live-action Hollywood credibility way before they got their hands on Marvel. And although the Pirates of the Caribbean films aren’t released quite as quickly as Disney’s Marvel films, there’s always been a new movie out every few years or so since 2003. Now this begs the question: what about Pirates of the Caribbean 6 – and, better yet, will actor Johnny Depp be reprising his role as Jack Sparrow?
Things have certainly been unclear on both of those fronts for quite some time. It’s been strongly rumored that Disney would be creating something of a spin-off or reboot for the sixth film, one which would focus on a female lead pirate instead of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow character. And Johnny Depp himself has frequently stated that his ex-wife Amber Heard had cost him the role after she accused him of alleged domestic abuse.
Now, while things still aren’t too much clearer on those fronts, it does seem like Johnny Depp could still have a place as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean 6. Here’s what producer Jerry Bruckheimer had to say regarding Depp’s potential involvement while speaking with Collider:
“The one we’re developing right now, we’re not sure quite what Johnny’s role is going to be,” Bruckheimer said. “So, we’re going to have to see.”
It certainly sounds like he could have a spot in the film depending on how things go. But given how unsure Bruckheimer is, it definitely sounds like Depp wouldn’t be returning as a lead character either way. At best, we will probably only get some kind of cameo or passing of the torch moment. But, as Bruckheimer said, we’ll just “have to see.”
As for the film’s actual overall development, Bruckheimer gave an update on that as well:
“We’re working on a draft right now and hopefully we’ll get it shortly and give it to Disney and hopefully they’ll like it,” Bruckheimer said. “We don’t know. We’ve been working on it for a little bit.”
It sounds as though things are simply stuck in the scripting phase. But depending on how well the script reads with Disney, they could greenlight the project and have it in production in no time. So perhaps we’ll get Pirates of the Caribbean 6 sooner rather than later. As for Jack Sparrow, it seems best to simply expect him to no longer be in the spotlight.