The fate of Disney’s one of the biggest IP, Pirates of the Caribbean, has been fluctuating for a while now, partly because of its lead star Johnny Depp. The two questions that haunt the fans of the franchise are: is there a sixth part, and will it see the return of their favorite Captain Jack Sparrow? There had been a promising update about a female-led movie in the works but to no avail. In a recent interview with AP Entertainment, franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer finally has a positive response.Based on the Disney theme park ride of the same name, the 2003 movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl became a surprising commercial and critical success and bagged Depp an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. The franchise went on to add four more features all with Depp reprising fan favorite character Jack Sparrow. However, 2017's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, was a critical failure and a box office bomb, which ultimately led the franchise to be buried in the sand.In June 2020, reports surfaced that a female-led movie in the franchise was in the works with actor Margot Robbie in the lead. However, the Harley Quinn star recently revealed that she’s not certain about the fate of the movie: "We had an idea, and we were developing it for a while, ages ago… which we thought would’ve been really cool. But I guess they don't want to do it.” Who “they” isn’t clear, but Bruckheimer told Collider in an interview, that the “script will come forward at a certain point.” Further, revealing that they “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.”
Depp’s role in the franchise became more questionable as his legal troubles grew, and ever since, fans are hoping for his return. Nonetheless, the actor recently donned his pirate avatar in a Make-A-Wish video for a young fan. When probed about the actor’s return Bruckheimer said, “We’re still working on it. Nothing’s definitive yet, but we continue to take little baby steps getting towards a screenplay.”The producer’s comments can be considered good news by the fans as he’d been uncertain of Depp’s involvement in the franchise for a while. Even if the team is taking baby steps towards a screenplay, it shows that they have the star’s return on their mind in some shape or form.You can check out Bruckheimer’s comments below: