It’s been almost half a decade since Johnny Depp was dumped from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and the swashbuckling saga hasn’t even gotten close to setting sail for its first installment without Captain Jack Sparrow.
The actor’s fans are thrilled that the multi-billion dollar property remains mired in development hell, and they were even happier when the female-driven spinoff being developed by Birds of Prey duo Margot Robbie and Christina Hodson failed to get the green light to enter pre-production.
Trying to continue any property without its most recognizable character and biggest selling point is a tough task, but the champagne may have to be placed back on ice after producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed to Collider that a story fronted by women isn’t quite out of the question for good.
“I think that that script will come forward at a certain point. We developed two different stories for Pirates and the other one’s going forward first, so that’s what we’re working on, to try to get that one made.”
It may not come with Robbie and Hodson at the helm, but it sounds as though Disney hasn’t quite abandoned ship when it comes to developing a female-led Pirates of the Caribbean film. Audiences were beginning to lose interest anyway given the cratering critical and commercial returns that greeted Dead Men Tell no Tales, so would anybody really be all that devastated were the saga to head off into the horizon for good?
There’s clearly a severe lack of enthusiasm for a Depp-less Pirates, so maybe the entire enterprise should just walk the plank.