Margot Robbie announced in a new Vanity Fair cover story that her female-fronted “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie is dead at Disney. Variety has reached out to the studio for comment. It was announced in June 2020 that Oscar nominee Robbie would be the star of a new “Pirates of Caribbean” movie at Disney written by her “Birds of Prey” screenwriter Christina Hodson.
“We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led — not totally female-led, but just a different kind of story — which we thought would’ve been really cool,” Robbie told Vanity Fair about her intended “Pirates” movie with Disney. “But I guess they don’t want to do it.”
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Variety reported in summer 2020 that Disney was in early development on Robbie’s “Pirates” movie as well as a second reboot written by franchise veteran Ted Elliott and “Chernobyl” creator Craig Mazin. Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced all five “Pirates” movies starring Johnny Depp, was attached to both new projects at the time.
In an interview with The Sunday Times in May, Bruckheimer said that both films remained in development. The mega-producer also confirmed that the future of the “Pirates” franchise does not currently have Johnny Depp involved despite rumors touting his return.
“Yes. We’re talking to Margot Robbie. We are developing two Pirates scripts — one with her, one without,” Bruckheimer said when asked about the future of the “Pirates” franchise. “[Will Depp be back?] Not at this point. The future is yet to be decided.”
The previous “Pirates” movies, all starring Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, grossed $1.5 billion domestically and $3.07 billion internationally, with the North American market representing a progressively smaller share. The domestic total for 2017’s “Dead Men Tell No Tales” hit $172 million, while foreign markets delivered $622 million. All five “Pirates” films have grossed more than $650 million worldwide, with “Dead Man’s Chest” and “On Stranger Tides” both topping the $1 billion mark.
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