Far too many Hollywood executives don’t realize this, but not every major franchise has to go on forever, and there’s a solid argument to be made that Pirates of the Caribbean should be a case in point. The series has brought in over $4.5 billion at the box office and gained a legion of fans, and there are at least two new projects in the works, but the swashbuckling saga was running out of gas long before the Johnny Depp fiasco.
Not only did reviews get progressively worse from Curse of the Black Pearl to Dead Men Tell No Tales, but the fifth installment saw earnings drop significantly. Don’t get us wrong, $794 million is a chunk of change that 99% of blockbusters would kill for, but it was viewed internally by Disney as a disappointing outcome.
Then the Mouse House decided to drop the leading man, most popular character and main selling point of the entire property and forge ahead on a pair of new movies without him, which has drawn exactly the response you’d expect. It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything concrete surrounding either the canonical Pirates 6 or Margot Robbie’s spinoff, but a new rumor claims that there’s even more high seas action on the way.
A third Pirates of the Caribbean effort is reportedly in the works exclusively for Disney Plus, but that’s the beginning and end of the information available, so it’s hardly the most in-depth or fleshed out slice of speculation we’ve heard. Knowing that they’re already running the risk of alienating a huge number of viewers by moving forward without Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow, would Disney realistically move forward on yet another new offering for the franchise? That’s a question that’ll need to be answered one way or another, because all we’ve got is hearsay.
Published: Aug 31, 2021 01:49 pm