‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ Producer Jerry Bruckheimer Confirms Next Film Will Be A Reboot

With nearly five decades of popular cinema under his belt, Jerry Bruckheimer remains one of Hollywood’s heavyweight billion-dollar producers. The mega-producer is still basking in the afterglow of the massive box office and critical reception of “Top Gun: Maverick,” and a third film in the works. Bruckheimer’s now promoting his latest movie, Guy Ritchie’s action-comedy “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” and speaking with ComicBook.com, he revealed the status of the next installment of Disney’s “Pirates of The Caribbean” franchise. 

Bruckheimer played a little coy but confirmed that they aim to reboot the franchise with the sixth movie. “But we’re gonna reboot Pirates, so that is easier to put together because you don’t have to wait for certain actors,” he said, seemingly nodding towards former franchise star Johnny Depp.

READ MORE: Jerry Bruckheimer Says Margot Robbie’s ‘Pirates’ Spinoff Film Has “A Very Strong Story” & Will Eventually Get Made

Talk of a reboot isn’t exactly new. Previous reports said Margot Robbie was being pursued as the female lead of a new “Pirates” installment (a potential heroic take on the Disney Parks character Redd connected to the attraction, maybe?). In the wake of the massive success of “Barbie,” you have to imagine that Disney would want to revisit that idea. 

Here is how Bruckheimer described the Robbie incarnation in late 2022 when he spoke with THR. “We have a very good script. 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.”

Screenwriters such as Christina Hodson (“Birds of Prey”) and Craig Mazin (“The Last of Us”) had been tasked with writing two competing new “Pirates” films. However, it’s unclear which of these scripts is being made, as Bruckheimer wasn’t giving much detail beyond confirming a reboot. Recent rumors have suggested “The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri is replacing Johnny Depp in the series, but none of that has been remotely confirmed.

Other rumors have suggested Johnny Depp could stick around in a supporting role, making way for a new lead, so far, but if it’s a wholesale reboot and starting from scratch, perhaps Disney has just moved on from the controversial actor.