Question: Is "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" aka "Dead Men Tell No Tales" shooting in early 2015 per recent rumors: Answer: Hell, no. Disney announced today that ‘Pirates 5’ will land in theaters on July 7th, 2017. What does this mean? Well, it’s yet another delay. And considering the film was aiming for a summer 2015 release and then delayed again just last year, the filmmakers and producers are not close to shooting and probably still tinkering with the screenplay (and at this point considering how many writers have worked on that project, possibly starting from scratch). The film will land in theaters six years after “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” which was the lowest grossing film in the franchise domestically, but the second highest grossing film in the series worldwide (and cracking the coveted $1 billion mark for the second time). Again, North American audiences may be tiring of the 4th or 5th installment of what’s becoming dinner theater, but international viewers can’t get enough — the franchise has generated $3.7 billion worldwide to date.
Johnny Depp will be 54 by the time the ‘Dead Man Tell No Tales’ arrives and the release date is the same weekend as the first two ‘Pirates’ movies in the series. In more recent years, the ‘Pirates’ films would land near the third or fourth weekend of May, but there’s talk already that Disney would like its new “Star Wars” series to reclaim that opening May weekend of yesteryear (as the first six films did), so it’s very possible you’ll be seeing Rian Johnson‘s "Star Wars: Episode VIII" arrive on the first weekend of May in 2017, and the fifth ‘Pirates’ movie leaving ample room to not cannibalize audiences and allowing it to reap megabucks.
What will Johnny Depp star in the ensuing years? Well, as “Dark Shadows,” “The Rum Diaries,” “The Lone Ranger,” and "Transcendence" demonstrated, outside his already-known big franchises, Depp doesn’t always perform in blockbuster box-office fashion (all those pictures were flops). His recent bombs suggest Depp may stick to his big winners for the foreseeable future and up next for him will be the sequel to the billion dollar grossing “Alice In Wonderland” sequel, another no brainer. Sure, he’ll show up in supporting work too—Depp will costar in his ‘Pirates 4’ director Rob Marshall’s Sondheim musical “Into the Woods,” but if that one fails, his name won’t be on the main marquee.
That said, Depp had already agreed to a few off-the-beaten path pictures before “Transcendence” tanked. So in February of next year we’ll see the comedic spy thriller "Mortdecai" and in September 2015, we’ll get a crime drama ("Black Mass") that might even be Oscar-worthy. These movies also illustrate that Depp can afford to take hits because his super-franchises always cover the damage, but after this summer don’t be surprised if he and his handlers take an extra close look before they agree to star in a non-franchise film.
"Pirates Of The
Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" will be directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, the filmmakers behind the high seas adventure film "Kon Tiki."