We haven’t seen the last of Captain Jack Sparrow.
At this year’s D23, Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that a sixth entry in Disney’s swashbuckling film franchise based on the theme park attraction of the same name is still in active development. What’s more, Johnny Depp is expected to return as everyone’s favorite high seas renegade known for his love of rum and supernatural artifacts.
Pirates of the Caribbean Producer Teases Johnny Depp Return as Jack Sparrow
“We’re talking to Johnny, we’re working on the screenplay,” he told Deadline Aug. 16, “and hopefully we can get this done.”
The most recent Pirates film, Dead Men Tell No Tales, released in May 2017, set up the return of Pirate King Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), while simultaneously grossing nearly $800 million worldwide.
Not long after, Disney announced a reboot of sorts from Birds of Prey team Margot Robbie and screenwriter Christina Hodson.
As Robbie told Vanity Fair in 2022: “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.”
In 2024, Bruckheimer said it was still on track alongside a second Pirates reboot written by Dead Men Tell No Tales scribe Jeff Nathanson.
“It’s two different movies,” he teased in an interview with Entertainment Weekly at the time. “We hope to get ’em both made, and I think Disney agrees they really want to make the Margot one, too.”
He went on to praise Nathanson’s vision, saying, “I think he’s cracked it. He’s got an amazing third act. We just gotta clean up the first and second and then we’ll get there. But he wrote a great, great third act.”
Bruckheimer also confirmed the story was devoid of Captain Sparrow following Disney’s decision to distance itself from Depp amidst the actor’s high-profile legal troubles with ex-wife Amber Heard.
“It’s a reboot,” said the producer, “but if it was up to me, [Johnny] would be in it. He’s an amazing artist and he’s a unique look. He created Captain Jack. That was not on the page, that was him doing a little Pepé Le Pew and Keith Richards. That was his interpretation of Jack Sparrow.”
Speaking with ScreenRant in 2025, Bruckheimer affirmed the next Pirates as “a new take,” albeit with a number of familiar faces. “I’m not going to tell you which ones,” he said. “You’ll have to guess.”
With Depp attempting a steady Hollywood comeback via Ti West’s Ebeneezer, it sounds like the Mouse House is ready to give his kooky, treasure-hunting mariner permission to come back aboard the multi-billion dollar galleon.
