It looks like there's still some wind in the sails of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin might be the person who'll be casting it out to sea.
Back in 2003 when Disney announced it was launching a franchise of one of its hokiest theme park attractions, expectations were low. But after its initial trilogy, headed up by Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, became one of the highest-grossing franchises in history, the House of Mouse kept plugging away at its dregs until finally, in 2017, Dead Men Tell No Tales, currently the last offering in the series, seemed to mark the Good Ship Pirates final journey. Despite keeping Depp at the helm and bringing back its core cast as well as adding the likes of Javier Bardem and Kaya Scodelario, this sixth film flopped in comparison to its earlier treasure trove.
Talks of raising the wreckage from the deep have been going on for years because, let's face it, Disney isn't done searching for pirate booty just yet. The last big convo came a few years ago with rumours of a Margot Robbie-led reboot of the franchise, but nothing ever materialised (this Barbie is booked!). But now it looks like we could have our most tangible, and, dare we say it, actually exciting update in the form of a Mazin-penned revamp.
Speaking to the LA Times, Mazin said “We pitched [a sixth film] and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird. And they did! And then he wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around.” The ‘he’ he refers to is Ted Elliot, who wrote the original trilogy, undeniably the best and most cohesive in the series. It's not uncommon for reboots to jump back to the point in the series where it was last at its peak, abandoning the more failed attempts. If it's more a sequel than a complete reboot, then Pirates of the Caribbean 6 potentially could be going the way of Ghostbusters or the Halloween movies.
What Mazin means by a ‘too weird’ Pirates franchise is also anyone's guess, considering the story has already taken us on a whistle-stop tour of undead, sea-walking zombies, tentacle-bearded captains and a literal giant squid. The success of The Last of Us proved that, among other things, Mazin knows how to write horror. The series gave us a borderline phobia of mushrooms overnight, who's saying what he could do with the entire, creepy contents of the ocean? There's something compelling about the franchise dipping back into its ghoulish roots because, at the end of the day, what's more terrifying than being stuck on an old-timey ship in the middle of the ocean? The stench alone is enough to raise the hairs on our necks.
Similarly, it's unclear if this sixth instalment will dip back into the jewels of its past, namely Depp's Jack Sparrow, the throughline of all the films and the most enduring personality from the franchise. The Depp of it all has always been a lingering question when it comes to reboots, with his potential involvement flicking between all in and all out like a faulty compass with every new discussion.
There are a lot of questions hanging over the head of this potential new Pirates movie, like a dark, swirling cloud that may or may not banish it to the deep for good. Mazin says the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have put a halt on any developments for the time being, but with producer Jerry Bruckheimer more than on board, it seems unlikely that Disney will willingly choose not to mine its past IP for one last jaunt across the seven seas.
