Margot Robbie is reteaming with ‘Birds of Prey’ scribe Christina Hodson to craft a new ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie for Disney. This is not a spinoff of the existing brand, not is it a reboot. This is a new movie with new characters under the ‘Pirates’ name. Like the previous films, this one draws its inspiration from the popular attractions at various Disney theme parks.
Last year, Robbie and Hodson launched the Lucky Exports Pitch Program, to get more female-identifying writers involved with big-budget studio action movies. In addition to ‘Birds of Prey’, Hodson wrote the ‘Transformers’ soft reboot ‘Bumblebee’, and continues to work with Warner Brothers on its DC Comics franchise, on the scripts for ‘The Flash’ and ‘Batgirl’.
A separate ‘Pirates’ reboot is in the works from franchise vet Ted Elliott and ‘Chernobyl’ creator Craig Mazin. Johnny Depp starred in all five previous pictures in the role of perpetually drunk Captain Jack Sparrow. The franchise has grossed $4.5 billion worldwide. However, the last movie, ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’– something of a reboot itself– was a disappointment, “only” making $794.9 million on a budget of $230–320 million. It was the second-lowest-grossing in the series, besting only the very first, ‘The Curse of the Black Pearl’, which grossed $654.3 million, but was made with a far more modest budget of $140 million.
Jerry Bruckheimer, who has produced all of the ‘Pirates’ movies, is attached to both the Robbie/Hodson project and the Elliott/Mazin one. No word yet on whether Captain Jack Sparrow/Depp will be in either of these new movies, but one thing that became clear with the release of ‘Dead Men…’ is that audiences have seemingly grown weary of that particular schtick.
Robbie will next be seen in the role of Harley Quinn in ‘The Suicide Squad’, due out on August 6, 2021. She is attached to star in an undisclosed film to be directed by David O. Russell (‘American Hustle’), and World War II drama ‘Ruin’. She will also headline ‘Marian’, about Maid Marian from the ‘Robin Hood’ legends, and ‘Barbie’, as the iconic Mattel fashion doll.
Are you interested in a fresh take on the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ brand?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
