Pirates of the Caribbean Reboot Script in the Works
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is preparing to set sail again. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times (which they specify was conducted according to WGA rules in compliance with the writers’ strike), screenwriter Craig Mazin revealed that he and Ted Eillott (whose name The LA Times misspells) are planning to collaborate on a script for a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie once the strike ends.
“We pitched it and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird. And they did!.. And then he wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around.”
This isn’t exactly breaking news. In 2019, Variety reported that Mazin and Elliott had been hired to write a “reboot” of the franchise, so that’s what Mazin is referring to in The LA Times piece, as opposed to the all-female spin-off with Margot Robbie. Last year, producer Jerry Bruckheimer said this version was closer to happening, so the Robbie film was on the back burner. Bruckheimer also told The Sunday Times that while Johnny Depp was not involved at that point, “The future is yet to be decided.”
As of now, it’s unlikely Captain Jack will be back; Johnny Depp no longer wants to work with the studio that threw him under the bus while his ex-wife was painting him as an abuser. And I don’t think Disney is currently in a position to offer Depp the insane amount of money it would likely take to make him change his mind. In lieu of that, they are stacking the deck as heavily in their favor as they can, I suppose; Ted Elliott wrote all of the Pirates movies except the last one, Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Craig Mazin is coming off HBO’s video game adaptation The Last of Us, as well as their acclaimed miniseries Chernobyl. But in terms of box office, I don’t think that will matter. Jack Sparrow is this franchise, and fans are not only angry because he won’t be in the movie but about why he won’t be there. The pedigree of the writers and a “weird” script won’t change their minds any more than “$300 million and a million alpacas” would change Depp’s.
