Pirates of the Caribbean must have seemed like a pretty crazy idea when it was pitched back in the early 2000s. The concept of taking a theme park ride and turning it into a major blockbuster with a budget of over $100 million is the kind of thinking that probably led to the disastrous 2012 movie Battleship. Yet, the pic was a massive success, riding off its witty charm, amazing VFX and, of course, Johnny Depp’s phenomenal performance as Captain Jack Sparrow (which earned him an Oscar nod).
Of course, sequels were ordered up pretty quickly, resulting in the back-to-back filming of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. While receiving lower reviews than the first outing, each movie still stuck to the same task of expanding the world/mythology of the pirates and continuing the story of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan. But since then, Disney’s continued to bring back the series from its resting place in order to ring out more money, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to be putting Captain Jack back on the shelf anytime soon.
According to a new report from Omega Underground, Pirates of the Caribbean 6 is moving forward at the studio, with Joachim Rønning, co-director of the latest installment, at the helm. On script duties, meanwhile, are franchise veterans Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio and Jeff Nathanson, with the pic said to be eyeing a 2021 release at the earliest. Details beyond that remain scarce, but it should be interesting to see how Disney deals with Mr. Depp.
After cutting ties with James Gunn a few weeks back for disturbing comments he’d made resurfaced, folks are wondering if the Mouse House will do the same with Johnny given the controversy that’s been swirling around him as of late. Of course, it’d be pretty tough to sell a Pirates movie without him, but then again, Gunn was also the beating heart of the Guardians films and Disney had no problem dropping him.
Regardless, it’s clear that the studio wants to continue on with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and though most people are probably sick of it at this stage, as long as it keeps pulling in big bucks at the box office, Disney’s sure to keep pumping out more adventures for Captain Jack and the gang.
