Last week, Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer let slip that the sixth movie in the franchise is set to be a reboot.
Fan hearts sank as deep as Davy Jones’ locker following rumours that Disney is planning on Pirates 6 having a black female lead rather than Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow at the helm of the Black Pearl.
Nevertheless, the same report claims that the studio wants the star (who was Oscar-nominated for the part) back in the new movie, but only in a supporting role.
Yet if it’s a total reboot without Sparrow, Disney can expect a flop bigger than the one left by the Kraken itself on the ocean surface.
That’s according to a respected industry insider who spoke exclusively with Express.co.uk on the matter; the same one who told us Depp would be considering a return to the franchise at the moment.
The source told us: “Looking at the 2024 slate, it’s a lot of soft reboots. One of the rules of the entertainment business seems to be ‘IF SOMETHING IS SUCCESSFUL, THERE MUST BE MORE’. Much like other creative businesses, risk mitigation is the name of the game at the moment until someone does something different that audiences adopt.”
On Bruckheimer’s Pirates 6 reboot plans, the insider said: “This feels like a threshold moment in terms of gradually escalating the dismissiveness of Disney’s fanbase. Essentially giving the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise a ‘hard reboot treatment’ since the previous instalment Dead Men Tell No Tales [UK title: Salazar’s Revenge] didn’t meet box office expectations, and was not well received. What makes this whole situation unique is Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios (who was in charge of the live-action end of the studio), stepped down last month and even previously stated that the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and Hocus Pocus 3 were their top priorities.”
The source continued: “However, I have high hopes in the independent sector, like Johnny Depp’s indie productions, there is a lot of potential, great undiscovered talent out there, and a need for authenticity. Putting Depp in such a film project will undoubtedly raise the perception of value in the cinema-going experience.
“There is nothing better than genuine on-screen charisma and chemistry but it’s going to require a rethink for Hollywood, an understanding of what it means to stick to the core value of what is being created throughout each story, through its characters and how reboots that lose their core value are more than likely doomed to failure. Are millions of people going to pay $15 to see a film in movie theatres based on a new, younger cast alone? I don’t think so.
“Any revival of Pirates of the Caribbean would have to be approached as an artistic decision rather than one that’s taken purely for the potential financial gain. How this reboot handles that concern should become clear whenever its plot details are officially announced.”
