The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise is one of the most successful franchises to date. The fifth chapter, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ offered a definitive – albeit sloppy – ending to the story in 2017. But just like the pirates in the movie, Disney has the same motto: “Take what you can, give nothing back”. That is why they have enlisted ‘Chernobyl’ creator Craig Mazin to develop a reboot.
The Hollywood Reporter says that in addition to Mazin, ‘Pirates’ series scribe Ted Elliot is also involved, and they have been tasked with figuring out the next chapter. It is unclear at this point whether the movie will be a clean reboot, or loosely connected to the first five films. There is also no word on whether Johnny Depp will return as Captain Jack Sparrow or not. However, it is highly unlikely Depp will come back.
‘Deadpool’ writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were originally tasked to tackle the project last year, but left the project which has been stagnant until now. It is interesting that Disney would lean toward predominantly comedy writers for a new ‘Pirates’ chapter. Mazin wrote the two ‘Hangover’ sequels as well as a few more comedy movies. ‘Chernobyl’ was his first real foray into the truly dramatic, so he is capable of both.
The first ‘Pirates’ movie is one of the best adventure movies ever made. There is a lot of merit to the next two sequels, if watched together and taken as one large story. But for the most part, the franchise has consistently been a series of diminishing returns. ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’ was a sloppy phoned in mess, and even broke the canon established previously. It seems that there is nowhere to go but up.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter