Craig Mazin recently told the Los Angeles Times that the script for “Pirates of the Caribbean 6” is so bizarre that he is amazed Disney even approved it. In the summer of 2020, a report from Variety indicated that Disney was in early stages of working on two “Pirates” films: a reboot featuring Margot Robbie and a sixth film in the original franchise penned by Mazin and Ted Elliott, with the latter writer being among the co-writers for the first four “Pirates” films.
Mazin stated,
“We pitched it and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird. And they did! And then he [Ted Elliot] wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around.”
@hollywoodhandle shared via @latimes in a tweet about a ‘Pirates’ reboot being in the works prior to the strike accompanied by a picture featuring the main trio cast from the first movie:
A ‘PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN’ reboot was in the works prior the strike:
“We pitched it and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird. And they did! And then he wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around.”
(Via: @latimes) pic.twitter.com/hMqCdWUPwa
— The Hollywood Handle (@hollywoodhandle) September 4, 2023
The most recent “Pirates” film, “Dead Men Tell No Tales,” was released in 2017. Last November, Robbie told Vanity Fair that her film, written by “Birds of Prey” writer Christina Hodson, had been dismissed, adding, “We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led — not totally female-led, but just a different kind of story — which we thought would’ve been really cool. But I guess they don’t want to do it.”
Franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer later confirmed that the script for Robbie’s “Pirates” will “come forward at a certain point.” He stated that the project was not entirely scrapped, but that Disney was favoring Mazin and Elliot’s script instead. The plot of the “Pirates” sequel remains unknown, and it’s also unclear whether Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow will return. Depp has been shut out of Hollywood in recent years due to legal concerns and his lawsuit against Amber Heard in 2022.
Bruckheimer voiced skepticism when asked about Depp returning to the “Pirates” franchise by The Sunday Times in May 2022. “[Will Johnny Depp be back?] Not at this point,” he remarked at the time. “The future is yet to be decided.”
Mazin is most recognized as the co-creator of HBO’s Emmy-nominated “The Last of Us,” but he has a track record of writing Hollywood sequels like “The Hangover II,” “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” and others.
The preceding “Pirates” films, all of which starred Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, made $1.5 billion in the United States and $3.07 billion overseas. The domestic total for “Dead Men Tell No Tales” in 2017 was $172 million, with $622 million coming from foreign markets. All five “Pirates” films have earned more than $650 million worldwide, with “Dead Man’s Chest” and “On Stranger Tides” both exceeding $1 billion.
Considering Depp finally winning the legal battle he was locked in with Amber Heard due to which he was essentially shut out of Hollywood, do you think he will be willing to get back into the shoes of Captain Jack Sparrow? Let us know what you think in the comments below!