The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise’s fate has not been clear since Johnny Depp was dropped from the role of Jack Sparrow in late 2018.
Although a reboot of the series starring Margot Robbie was announced in late 2020, no news has since materialized about the project.
Meanwhile, the question of whether Pirates of the Caribbean 6 will happen (with or without Depp's involvement) remains unclear.
Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean project would likely be a reboot or a spinoff rather than a direct sequel, but Depp’s disclosed Pirates of the Caribbean 6 fee proves the movie would have relied on his star power, meaning the franchise is not necessarily ready to part with its former lead for good.
As confusing as these behind-the-scenes issues are, the future of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has only become less clear after comments by Jerry Bruckheimer.
In a May 2022 Times interview, the legendary producer didn’t rule out Johnny Depp returning as Captain Jack Sparrow in a future Pirates of the Caribbean movie despite the actor himself effectively doing so during court proceedings.
Bruckheimer also admitted that there are two Pirates of the Caribbean projects currently in development, “one with (Margot Robbie), and one without.” These comments make it obvious that the studio has no idea what to do with the Pirates of the Caribbean series going forward and no confidence in its plans for the franchise.
Depp effectively retired Jack Sparrow when he stated in court that no amount of money could convince him to star in Pirates of the Caribbean 6.
However, judging by the simultaneous development of two unrelated projects, the refusal to rule out Depp’s return, and the lack of certainty regarding Robbie’s role in the movies, the franchise has no clear path forward without him.
Depp’s role as Jack Sparrow become increasingly central to the Pirates of the Caribbean series as the franchise progressed. In the original movie, 2003’s The Curse of the Black Pearl, he was a scene-stealing breakout character.
The popularity of Depp’s Sparrow led the creators to give more screen time in the first two sequels and, when director Gore Verbinski departed after the end of the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, the fourth and fifth movies replaced the rest of the supporting cast to further focus on Depp.
However, this made it impossible for Pirates of the Caribbean to fix Jack Sparrow as the entire appeal of the series began to hinge on Depp’s charismatic antihero.
The best way to ensure that viewers didn’t get tired of Depp’s character was to give the new sequels interesting, engaging supporting characters who drew attention away from Jack, but this meant diverting screen time away from Depp and the filmmakers were unwilling to attempt this (likely due to the sheer amount of money the movies invested in his presence).
As such, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise’s future fell apart when Depp departed the series and, judging by the unclear comments of its producers, there is still no clear plan to put the series back together again.