In 2020, reports surfaced that Disney was working on a Pirates of the Caribbean movie with Barbie actress Margot Robbie. The film was envisioned as an all-female action fantasy set in the world of the Disney multi-billion dollar franchise and featured a whole new adventure separate from Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow and co. Birds of Prey screenwriter Christina Hodson was attached to pen the script, which was reportedly a “wholly original” tale that is more of a reboot than a sequel to what came before, so here's everything we know about Pirates of the Caribbean with Margot Robbie.
Fast forward five years, and there’s still no new POTC movie since 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales. So what? Whatever happened to the $4.5 billion-grossing franchise, once considered one of the most iconic Disney films in modern times?
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After that initial 2020 report of a Robbie-led POTC film in the works, we did not hear about any significant development until 2022. However, it wasn’t what fans wanted. Speaking for a 2022 Vanity Fair cover story, the Oscar-nominated actress and producer revealed that her proposed female-fronted POTC movie was dead in the water. “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,” Robbie told Vanity Fair about her planned Disney film. “But I guess they don’t want to do it.”
Pirates of the Caribbean With Margot Robbie
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It seemed like, in the two years since its announcement, talks between Disney and the Australian actress had broken down. And it wasn’t the only POTC project hitting a snag. Along with the female-fronted POTC project, producer Jerry Bruckheimer also teased the development of another “Pirates” project. “Yes. We’re talking to Margot Robbie. We are developing two Pirates scripts—one with her, one without,” said the seasoned producer, who spearheaded all five POTC films, in addition to box office hits like Armageddon, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, Will Smith’s Bad Boys films, Nicolas Cage’s National Treasure films, and the Tom Cruise vehicle Top Gun films.
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The other Pirates project would have been developed by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Pirates veteran Ted Elliot. While it was unclear if this was a direct sequel to Dead Men Tell No Tales, the plan wouldn’t have involved longtime star Depp. In 2018, the actor was fired from the franchise in the wake of a domestic violence allegation made by his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Johnny Depp himself has explicitly verbalized that he had no intention to reprise his iconic role as Jack Sparrow. During his defamation trial against Heard, the 62-year-old actor stated that “nothing on this earth would get me to go back and work with Disney on a Pirates Of The Caribbean film.”
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Despite his notoriety around the time of the bombshell trial, fans still clamored for the idea of Depp returning to his most famous role. However, his statement seemed to dash any hope for reconciliation between Disney and the embattled star. The combo of bad press surrounding the franchise in 2022 seemingly killed the hype for a lot of fans. Once again, the water went quiet for a long time.
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In 2024, with both the Robbie and Mazin Pirates installments still floundering, Bruckheimer went on the record to confirm the status of both movies. "We hope to get 'em both made, and I think Disney agrees they really want to make the Margot one, too," Bruckheimer said. The non-Robbie iteration, however, appeared to have had a significant shakeup behind the scenes, with Young Woman and the Sea scribe Jeff Nathanson penning the script in lieu of the previous creative tandem between Mazin and Elliot.
Pirates of the Caribbean With Margot Robbie
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"I think he's cracked it," Bruckheimer said of Nathanson. "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." Although the proposed film is intended to be a reboot, with the domestic violence media firestorm behind him, Bruckheimer also signaled an open door for Depp to return. "If it was up to me, he would be in it," Bruckheimer said. "I love him. He's a good friend. He's an amazing artist, and he has 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."
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So far, Johnny Depp has not expressed any intention to jump back on the POTC ship. The result of the 2022 trial ruled that both he and his ex defamed each other, although the ruling heavily favored Depp (Heard was fined $10 million in compensatory damages to her former husband, while Depp was ordered to pay Heard $2 million). This could prove controversial to a certain part of moviegoers, particularly women. Depp also mentioned time and time again that he “doesn't need Hollywood to continue his career.”
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In 2025, Bruckheimer once again gave another update on the sixth POTC film, this time teasing that some familiar faces might make a comeback. “We’re working on a screenplay. Hopefully we’ll get it right — and then we’ll make it. We really want to make it, that’s for sure,” the producer said in an interview promoting his new Brad Pitt racing pic F1. “It’ll be a new take on it.” When pressed about a possible new ensemble cast, he added: “Well, not all new actors. We’ll have some back. I’m not going to tell you which ones — you’ll have to guess.”
Pirates of the Caribbean With Margot Robbie
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His comments came around the same time that actor Orlando Bloom, who played scrappy orphan turned pirate Will Turner in four installments of POTC, said that there is “definite availability” for him to reprise his role. “I think they’re trying to work out what it would all look like. I personally think it’d be great to get the band back together,” the star said recently. That might include co-stars like Depp, Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swan, Will’s lover and pirate heroine on her own, and Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa. Nothing is set in stone yet, according to the actor, though his excitement to return definitely counts as something positive in the horizon.
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So far, all signs point to Disney leaning back on the nostalgia of the original cast to chart the franchise’s future, leaving Robbie’s version submerged deep in the ocean. For now. Which version of the new Pirates of the Caribbean film would YOU rather have – a wholly new tale or a return voyage with the OG cast? Sound off in the comments below!
