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Having last released a movie back in 2017, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise — quietly one of the biggest of all time — has been dormant for half a decade now.
Given the controversy that its star Johnny Depp has found himself in during recent years, that fact isn’t all that surprising. What is surprising, though, is that the studio hasn’t tried to pivot elsewhere, namely to Margot Robbie, who’s been rumored to be attached to a Pirates project for a few years now.
While reports from earlier this year seemed to indicate that the Robbie-starring Pirates movie was dead, mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer — who is still going strong at 79 years old, having just produced Top Gun: Maverick (ever heard of it) — has since clarified in a recent interview that not only is the Robbie film “still alive,” but he’s also developing another movie in the franchise that will feature a “younger” cast.
“Oh God, they’re all hard. I think we’re getting very close on that one, too. 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,” Bruckheimer said when The Hollywood Reporter asked about a sixth Pirates movie.
“It’s alive for me. It’s alive for Disney. I’m sure she was disappointed it didn’t go first — or maybe not because she’s very busy, so it might be a blessing to push this a bit. We believe we’ll get it made. It’s a very strong story.”
As Bruckheimer notes, Robbie is quite busy these days: to close out 2022, she’s starred in David O. Russell’s Amsterdam and Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, and in 2023 the Oscar-nominated actress — who is also turning into a shrewd producer — is set to star in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City.
Still, Disney would be wise to keep trying to make this Robbie-led Pirates film a reality as she’s one of the few actors in Hollywood that can lead such a franchise.