The seven seas look to be vast enough for Jerry Bruckheimer to want to continue the franchise. And he’s hoping Disney will concur.
A follow-up to Pirates of the Caribbean is the currently ongoing “development hell” story that’s been kicking around for some years. The concept has been going through a bevy of incarnations. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has thrown around a number of concepts, one of them involving Margot Robbie (which received conflicting reports on whether or not Disney passed on it) and one of them involving a new cast of younger actors. Bruckheimer confirmed recently that it will be a full-on reboot.
Bruckheimer is no stranger to development hell sequels, as the upcoming Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F went through its own string of failed attempts, including a TV pilot that featured Axel’s son (with Eddie making a cameo). While the mega-producer spoke with ComicBook.com about the upcoming Netflix action comedy, he offered an update on the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot. Bruckheimer stated,
We have a script that’s being written right now. Hopefully it’ll come in a month or so, and it’ll be as good as I think it will be. So let’s hope that Disney likes it and they give us an opportunity to make it.”
The inevitable question associated with the project would be Johnny Depp’s involvement. Previously, Bruckheimer had given his brief statement on whether he would like to have Depp back in some capacity. He responded, “If it was up to me, of course, I’d love to have him back in the movie. He’s fabulous. A great actor and a good friend.” It was then asked if Bruckheimer and Depp have had conversations of getting the band back together and Bruckheimer responded simply, “I’ve certainly spoken to him. But we’ll see what happens.”
Many fans wonder why he decided to reboot the franchise in the first place instead of making it a sequel to the already-established world. According to Bruckheimer, much of it comes down to scheduling, with him noting how hard it is to do sequels to huge hits with big stars, as you have to wait on a performer’s availability. “You don’t know how they come together. You just don’t know. Because with Top Gun you have an actor who is iconic and brilliant. And how many movies he does before he does Top Gun, I can’t tell you. But we’re gonna reboot Pirates, so that is easier to put together because you don’t have to wait for certain actors.”