Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced all five previous Pirates of the Caribbean movies, says there’s still a chance to resurrect the script of the cancelled female-led take on the franchise. The reveal comes from an exclusive interview with Collider’s own Perri Nemiroff for the upcoming Disney+ National Treasure series.

A female-led Pirates of the Caribbean was first announced in 2020 with Margot Robbie attached to lead the cast, and Birds of Prey scribe Christina Hodson was expected to write the script. Bruckheimer was also attached to produce, meaning the Robbie-centric sequel would most likely connect to the larger franchise. Unfortunately, that ship officially sunk earlier last month when Robbie revealed the project was never going to see the light of day. At the time, Robbie said, "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. But I guess they don't want to do it." Who are “they” remain a mystery, especially considering how the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was so profitable for Disney.

According to Bruckheimer, the current project was written simultaneously as the female-led one. However, they’ve decided the best move was to move forward with the current movie under production. That doesn’t mean the female-led Pirates of the Caribbean is locked forever in Davy Jones' chest, as it could definitely be reworked in the future. As Bruckheimer told us:

“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.”

Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean 3

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Currently, it sounds like Bruckheimer is developing a different Pirates of the Caribbean movie, although little is known about the project. Ted Elliott, who wrote the scripts for the first four Pirates films, is supposedly attached to writing the sixth movie script together with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. However, very little is known about the movie’s plot or if it will bring back legacy characters from the original trilogy.

The Pirates of the Caribbean Theatrical History

Based on the fan-favorite Disney theme park ride of the same name, the franchise began its successful run with 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. The movie became a surprise hit, hauling over $650 million at the global box office. The movie also scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Johnny Depp, who played the iconic pirate Jack Sparrow in Curse of the Black Pearl and all four sequels the movie got. The last movie in the franchise, 2017's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, was a critic failure and a box office bomb, which ultimately led the franchise to be buried in the sand. Robbie’s female-led movie could have been a treasure map, helping Disney to reignite the love for the franchise.

There’s no release date for the Pirates of the Caribbean movie currently in development. Check out our interview with Bruckheimer about the possibility of Depp returning to the franchise from an interview for his series Hightown.