The popular Pirates of the Carribean franchise has been rather stagnant as of late after the franchise’s lead actor Johnny Depp was fired by Disney over the Amber Heard abuse allegations. Ever since the defamation trial ruling in Depp’s favor, many fans have hoped for some kind of “come to Jesus meeting” between Disney and Depp.
Since then, a female-led reboot starring Margot Robbie was announced, then seemingly canceled. There was also a rumor about a Pirates film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson due to his work on Moana and The Jungle Cruise. But no news has come from that rumor for some time.
Now we have an update on the potential future of the franchise, and it doesn’t sound like too many people will be that thrilled.
In a recent interview with writer and director Craig Mazin, known for writing the Hangover trilogy and heading up the HBO series The Last of Us, gave details on a pitch for a sixth installment in the Pirates franchise that he had pitched to Disney.
It had been reported in 2020 that Mazin and Ted Elliot were tasked to develop a new potential reboot for the series following the Depp debacle. Apparently, the pitch that the duo made was “so weird” that he didn’t think Disney would buy it.
In a recent interview with the L.A. Times discussing the recent strikes he 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.“
Despite his enthusiasm for the project, perhaps going in a “weird” direction might not be the best option. With Disney desperate for a box office hit, reviving the series in such a different way may deter longtime fans from seeing it. Depp supporters have made it very clear that if there is no Jack Sparrow, they will have no interest in the franchise going forward.
With the box office failure of The Haunted Mansion, Disney may need to take a step back and reevaluate the direction the franchise will head.
Source: Variety
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