The departure of longtime Disney boss Dick Cook may put the brakes on the latest film in the Pirates franchise, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.” Johnny Depp, paying tribute to Cook in the LA Times, said that the Disney honcho had always backed him in previous movies, saying “When things went a little sideways on the first ‘Pirates’ movie and others at the studio were less than enthusiastic about my interpretation of the character, Dick was there from the first moment. He trusted me.”
Now, Depp says that, without Cook, he’s having second thoughts about returning to play Captain Jack Sparrow. “There’s a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment. It was all born in that office.” Depp’s waiting to read a script for the new movie, and will presumably be paid through the roof, so we imagine it’ll still be happening, but if it sucks, does he have the contract wiggle room to bail on it? Considering it’s been announced already with a date and title, that seems unlikely. Rob Marshall (“Chicago”) is strongly rumored to be directing, which means that 40% of the film’s running time will be set on a theater stage.