A great deal can be said about Disney’s film series “Pirates of the Caribbean,†which was based on one of their theme park rides. The very first movie in 2003 can be argued to have revitalized the pirate movie genre, and in over a decade and a half the film franchise achieved a $4.5 billion global box office gross.
Recent entries haven’t been as lucrative in earnings, doubled with problems trying to keep on actor Jonny Depp who plays the “Pirates†face character Captain Jack Sparrow. Disney has bounced ideas of a reboot without Depp/Jack, even tapping some writers for it. But things have stalled.
Fortune tells us that Disney has fallen back into a rut regarding the production of a new installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean,†which would also serve as a reboot to the film franchise. That is because assigned screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, best known recently from 20th Century Fox’s blockbuster “Deadpool†movies, are announced to no longer be attached to the “Pirates†project.
With the departure of the writing team, and with now update on anyone else picking up where they left off, it appears any production for more “Pirates of the Caribbean†may no longer be on.
The genesis of the “Pirates†franchise had been a very unusual story of unlikely success in itself. As already stated, it was originally a theme park ride.And when the initial movie “Curse of the Black Pearl†came out, it was under the shadow of prevailing moviemaking wisdom that pirate films don’t sell at all.
To this, “Black Pearl†had answered with an astonishing $300 box office blitz in the US for 2003. It also netted a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Johnny Depp, crystalizing his characterization of Captain Jack Sparrow as the new-age archetype of a romanticized Caribbean pirate.
Disney had been frantic to revitalize the “Pirates†film series as a possible alternative should its current reigning subsidiary franchises “Star Wars†and the MCU begin to falter. But with the loss of their writers for a sixth film, and the feasibility of making such a movie without the iconic Jack Sparrow character, it may be time for the studio to figuratively bury the franchise.