Discussing Film reports that original writer Terry Rossio is in talks to return to the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise. He would be signing on for a reboot that would redirect the franchise without Johnny Depp, aka Captain Jack Sparrow.
With $4.5 billion in worldwide box office and $2.5 billion more in global merchandise since 2003, the ‘Pirates’ franchise has been lucrative. However, the situation with Depp is unsavory, and his high salary did not help in the matter. Thus, Disney film production chief Sean Bailey made the plan to retool and relaunch the film series. That is when the power writing duo Reese and Wernick were brought in.
However, the ‘Zombieland’ and ‘Deadpool’ writers left the project. So, two options were available. They had to find replacement writer(s). Or, they could let the ‘Pirates’ sail away into the sunset, never to be seen again.
Now, we have a better idea of the situation at hand, with Rossio potentially coming back. Rossio is famous for the first ‘Shrek,’ the original ‘Aladdin,’ ‘The Mask of Zorro,’ and ‘The Lone Ranger.’ But, that’s just his non ‘Pirates’ work. He was a writer on the first four ‘Pirates’ movies, and has a story credit on the recent fifth film. His next film is the upcoming crossover event ‘Godzilla vs. Kong,’ releasing March 13, 2020.
Further, it is unclear how much of a reboot this sixth film would be, seeing as Rossio is already familiar with the universe. It would be wise to continue the storyline that got a tease at the end of the last film. The credits scene set up the return of popular villain Davy Jones.
If they don’t want to follow-up on the Davy Jones story, they could pivot to a plot focused on a new character: Redd. Or, Disney could invest in a television series for their upcoming Disney+ streaming service. But, it could prove too much of a financial risk.
We’ll just have to see what happens next!
Source: Discussing Film