Producer of Pirates of the Caribbean Updates Margot Robbie’s Film
According to its producer, the planned Pirates of the Caribbean film starring Margot Robbie may still have legs. The most recent film in the franchise, 2017’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, was the last project in the franchise, which up to this point has always starred Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. A new follow-up starring Margot Robbie as a new character was announced in June 2020, however last month Robbie claimed in an interview that the project would not be going forward.
The Hollywood Reporter recently sat down for a conversation with Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer. When they discussed the future of the franchise, he expressed confidence that both promised projects – the official Pirates of the Caribbean 6 as well as the Robbie spinoff – were still in development. He said that Robbie’s comments that the film were perhaps jumping the gun and that “we believe we’ll get it made.” Read his full quote below:
“Oh God, they’re all hard [to crack.] I think we’re getting very close on [Pirates 6], too. We have a very good script. We developed two of them — the one with Margot Robbie and one with a younger cast. The Margot Robbie one needs a little more work. The younger cast one is close. Hopefully we’ll get both of them.
“[Robbie’s Pirates film is] alive for me. It’s alive for Disney. I’m sure she was disappointed it didn’t go first — or maybe not because she’s very busy, so it might be a blessing to push this a bit. We believe we’ll get it made. It’s a very strong story.”
Everything We Know About Margot Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean Movie
So far, details are still thin on the ground as to the progress of the Robbie Pirates spin-off, especially considering the fact that the star herself doesn’t seem convinced it’s going to get off the ground.
As of 2020 when the project was announced, the writer attached was Christina Hodson, who previously worked with Robbie on her 2020 film Birds of Prey (and The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Hodson’s other credits include 2018’s Transformers prequel Bumblebee, the HBO Max film Batgirl that was recently canceled while in post-production, and the upcoming DC Universe film The Flash.
The film, which Robbie teased at the time would contain “a lot of girl power,” was being developed concurrently with the sixth film in the ongoing franchise. However, the status of that film has been similarly murky. As Bruckheimer stated above, producers have considered hiring a younger cast for that project, but there is still potential for Depp to return as Jack Sparrow in the film in some capacity. However, the actor recently stated during his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard that he was no longer interested in returning to the franchise.
As complicated as this all has been, another complication to the Robbie spinoff is the fact that the actress is tremendously busy. This year she held starring roles in both David O. Russell’s Amsterdam and the buzzy early Hollywood drama Babylon from Damien Chazelle, in addition to her upcoming title role in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film Barbie.
Should Barbie spawn a sequel or her DCU character Harley Quinn (who she has been playing since 2016’s Suicide Squad) be called upon to appear in the future of that franchise, it will make scheduling a new Pirates of the Caribbean project even more difficult, even if the script gets off the ground.