Jerry Bruckheimer says he is talking with Johnny Depp about Pirates of the Caribbean 6 while a screenplay for the next film is being worked on, putting the franchise’s most familiar face back at the center of the conversation. He said he hopes the project can be finished.
The update matters because Johnny Depp remains the face many viewers still connect with Captain Jack Sparrow, even as the next chapter is expected to center on Margot Robbie’s protagonist with Sparrow in a side role. Bruckheimer has now said conversations have taken place and the script is moving forward, which is enough to revive a question that has hung over the series for years: who, exactly, will carry the sixth film when it lands?
That question matters now because the Pirates of the Caribbean name still carries unusual weight. Through five movies, the franchise has grossed $4.5 billion worldwide, and the last entry, Dead Men Tell No Tales, came out in 2017 and brought in $795.9 million globally. By that measure, even a half-step toward another film draws attention, especially when it involves the character most tied to the series’ biggest cultural footprint.
But Bruckheimer’s comments stop short of a return announcement. He said he is talking with Depp and working on a screenplay, not that Depp has signed on, and that gap is the whole story. The next film can be written around a new lead and still leave room for Captain Jack Sparrow, but that is not the same as Depp agreeing to come back in the role.
Bruckheimer has also shown he is willing to speak bluntly about what comes next for the business around him. At D23, he said he was talking with Depp about returning as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean 6. He has also said he wants Paramount to stay in California, and last spring at CinemaCon he argued that the merger involving Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery was already moving ahead, with European countries already approving it and little anyone could do other than take David Ellison at his word. For now, the most concrete development is still the screenplay itself. Depp’s return is being discussed, not delivered.
