Walt Disney Pictures has announced that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales won’t make its original release date of July 10th, 2015 and will instead sail into a 2016 release date. This news appears just a day after the studio announced the rescheduling of Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man.
The fifth Pirates of the Caribbean instalment, which is directed by Kon-Tiki helmers Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, is slated to begin production in the fall of 2014. The picture’s start date originally was set for the first quarter, though the studio needed more time in development.
The reasons that hinder the production are apparently some issues with the script, provided by Catch Me If You Can scribe Jeff Nathanson. The studio’s reason for the delay though is to take the time with this particular instalment in order to make sure it’s as good as it can be. However, the delay could have been caused by this year’s poor box office performance of Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger, brought to life by producer Jerry Bruckheimer and star Johnny Depp, who plays Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Another possible explanation for the delay could be that Disney’s 2015 summer movie schedule is already crammed. The studio plans to release Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Pixar’s Inside Out. Plus, we can’t forget about J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII, which is due out later that year.
Whatever the reason for the delay is, I’m glad that they’re taking their time with this one. We haven’t had a good Pirates film for a while so hopefully Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales can change that.