For years, it looked like Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow had sailed off for good. After Disney cut ties with the actor in 2018, Depp famously said during his 2022 defamation trial with Amber Heard that he wouldn’t return “for $300 million and a million alpacas.”
But according to longtime Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer, the winds may finally be shifting.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Bruckheimer confirmed he’s been in touch with Depp about coming back for the sixth Pirates film. And while nothing is official, the door is cracked open.
“If he likes the way the part’s written, I think he would do it. It’s all about what’s on the page, as we all know.”
It’s been eight years since Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales hit theaters in 2017, reuniting Depp with Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley.
Plans for a sixth film have been in motion since at least 2019, but the project has faced script rewrites, evolving creative visions, which includes a now-shelved Margot Robbie-led spin-off, and delays from the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
Bruckheimer says the film remains in active development. The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin was initially working with original Pirates writer Ted Elliott before the strikes, but Dead Men Tell No Tales scribe Jeff Nathanson has since taken over.
While Bruckheimer describes the next movie as a reboot, he’s made it clear that doesn’t mean Jack Sparrow is out.
“It’s a reboot, but if it was up to me, he would be in it… I love him. He’s a good friend. He’s an amazing artist, and he’s a unique look. He created Captain Jack… That was his interpretation, and it became iconic.”
Depp’s impact on the role is legendary. Jack Sparrow’s peculiar swagger with his mix of Pepé Le Pew and Keith Richards, wasn’t in the script but entirely his creation. Without it, the franchise would look very different.
If Depp does return, it would mark a major thaw in his relationship with Disney and a shift back toward blockbuster filmmaking after years of focusing on independent projects.
Bruckheimer admits there was a time he couldn’t even secure a cameo for the actor. Now, the possibility rests on one thing: the script. “It’s all about what’s on the page,” Bruckheimer says.
Nothing is locked yet, but the fact that Depp and Bruckheimer are talking might be the clearest sign in years that Captain Jack’s compass could point him back to the Black Pearl.
