12 h, may 5, 2020 y - MEDIA COVERAGE 5 - 8 May 2020 Pirates of the Caribbean Reboot Moving Forward With A Female Lead

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‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Reboot Moving Forward With A Female Lead

By Skyler Shuler

Back in 2018, reports surfaced that Disney was set to reboot their blockbuster franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean. Since then, fans have been wondering what would that mean for Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow, well I can say don’t expect him to return.

According to insider Daniel Richtman, the studio is in fact going the reboot route, and are currently looking for a female lead, and one name at the top of Disney’s list to lead the reboot is Avengers: Endgame and Jumanji: The Next Level star Karen Gillan. This is something I can also confirm as I’ve heard rumblings of Gillan as early as last fall. As of now, it is unknown if the actress has had any formal talks with the studio, but the studio is definitely interested.

Another tidbit I hear is that the studio is also considering women of color for the role. Character and story details are being kept under wraps. Though fan speculation will go wild now that Gillan’s name has been mentioned, there could be a possibility that the film will look to be centered on Redd, the popular female pirate featured in the Disney Parks attraction and is a meet-and-greet character.

Back in October, Disney tapped Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Ted Elliot, who wrote the previous Pirates films, to find a fresh new direction for the franchise. Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman (Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure) will produce. A director has yet to be picked, but Disney has several names they’ve looked at, I won’t share the names I have heard for now, I’ll save that for a future scoop I’ve been working on. The budget on the film is north of $100M and is being made for a theatrical release, despite rumors of a Disney+ series.

Though Depp’s involvement has yet to be addressed by Disney, this is indeed a reboot, so it is unlikely he returns. Back in 2018, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, Sean Bailey, spoke with The Hollywood Reporter regarding the reboot and avoided the question of Depp’s involvement, here’s what he had to say:

“We want to bring in a new energy and vitality. I love the [Pirates] movies, but part of the reason Paul and Rhett are so interesting is that we want to give it a kick in the pants. And that’s what I’ve tasked them with.”

The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is one of the most financially successful of all time. The five films have grossed over $4.5 billion at the worldwide box office. The last movie Dead Men Tell No Tales ended up making $794.1M worldwide for the studio, dominating the Memorial Day weekend in 2017.

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