Disney Plans On Getting 'Weird' With The New Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie
20 years after uncovering buried treasure with "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," Disney has yet to repeat that success with any of its other theme park ride-inspired films. As such, the House of Mouse intends to return to the scene of the crime for what will be its sixth round of blockbuster piracy so far.
The sixth "Pirates of the Caribbean" installment has already gone through several permutations. "Deadpool" writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick once toyed with the notion of rebooting the franchise, and there was even talk of a spinoff film starring Margot Robbie taking the place of a traditional sequel at one point. Back in 2022, Robbie indicated the latter film, which was written by her "Birds of Prey" scribe Christina Hodson, has since sunk into Davy Jones's Locker, but that may not be the case. In a later interview with Collider, series producer Jerry Bruckheimer said:
"I think that that script will come forward at a certain point. We developed two different stories for 'Pirates' and the other one's going forward first, so that's what we're working on, to try to get that one made."
Following the massive success of "Barbie," one suspects Disney would be more than happy to team up with the film's star for a high-seas adventure.
As it were, the other script Bruckheimer referred to is being written by Ted Elliott — who co-penned the first four "Pirates" films — and Craig Mazin, the celebrated creator of "Chernobyl" and co-showrunner on "The Last of Us." If that sounds like an unexpected pairing of talent, then know Mazin is just as surprised Disney even signed off on what he described to the Los Angeles Times as his and Elliott's decidedly "weird" pitch for the swashbuckling sequel.
The last of us on the seven seas
Everybody wants Mazin to work on their big franchise movie these days and for a valid reason. The multi-hyphenate, who actually kicked off his stranger-than-fiction career by writing Disney's 1997 astronaut comedy "RocketMan," has proven to have a remarkable talent for uncovering both the humanity and the humor beneath premises that lend themselves more to genre thrills and spectacle. In other words, you can see why Mickey Mouse's corporate empire would entrust someone like him with revitalizing "Pirates of the Caribbean," a franchise that's been taking on water (both critically and financially) ever since director Gore Verbinski wrapped up his original trilogy of films in 2007.
Mazin, on the other hand, was a little taken aback when Disney signed off on his and Elliott's idea. "We pitched it and thought there's no way they're buying it, it's too weird," Mazin told the LA Times. "And they did! And then [Elliott] wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone's waiting around."
As Mazin indicated, it may be a while before our next major update on "Pirates of the Caribbean 6," what with Disney and the other major Hollywood studios refusing to grant the striking actors' and writers' guilds a fair and equitable new deal. That includes details on what Mazin and Elliott's "weird" idea entails, not to mention the Kraken in the room that is series lead Johnny Depp and whether Disney intends to bring the alleged domestic abuser back to play the swaggering Jack Sparrow once again. So, until we know more, it's better that we all hold off on deciding whether a pirate's life is for us (again).
"Pirates of the Caribbean 6" has yet to receive an official title or release date, so stay tuned for further updates.