Jerry Bruckheimer Drops Major News on Johnny Depp’s Future in His Most Famous Franchise

Johnny Depp’s departure from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise wasn’t personal it was tied to a mix of legal issues, public controversy, and shifting studio plans.

Around 2018, during his highly publicized legal battles with ex-wife Amber Heard, which included allegations of abuse from both sides, Disney quietly distanced itself from him. Depp testified in court in 2020 that he was let go from the role of Captain Jack Sparrow just days after a damaging newspaper article labeled him a “wife beater,” something he has always denied. He later won a defamation case against Heard in 2022, but by then Disney had already moved forward with reboot plans for the series without him.

Disney has never publicly confirmed exactly why Depp was dropped, but the studio had already been considering changes to Pirates to refresh the brand. This included talk of a reboot or spin-off with new characters, which made his return even less likely at the time.

Now, Johnny Depp might be ready to sail the seas again. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, producer Jerry Bruckheimer said he’s been talking with Depp about returning for a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Bruckheimer has always been vocal about wanting Depp back in the role. Now, Bruckheimer says Depp could be open to playing Jack Sparrow again, depending on the script. “If he likes the way the part’s written, I think he would do it,” Bruckheimer explained. “It’s all about what’s on the page, as we all know.”

The last Pirates movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, came out in 2017 with Depp alongside Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley. Talk of a sixth film has been around since at least 2019.

While Bruckheimer has described the next movie as a reboot, he still wants Jack Sparrow to be part of it. “It’s a reboot, but if it was up to me, he would be in it,” he said. “I love him. He’s a good friend. He’s an amazing artist… He created Captain Jack. That was not on the page; that was him doing a little Pepé Le Pew and Keith Richards.”

Right now, the biggest hold-up is the script. “We are still working on a screenplay,” Bruckheimer said. “We just got to get the right screenplay. We haven’t quite gotten there yet, but we’re close.” Writers Craig Mazin and Ted Elliot were working on it before the Hollywood strikes in 2023, and later Jeff Nathanson, who wrote Dead Men Tell No Tales, took over. In May 2024, Bruckheimer said Nathanson had figured out an amazing third act but the first two still needed work.

If Depp does return, it would mark a huge shift for both Disney and the actor. In court during his 2022 defamation trial against Heard, Depp famously said he wouldn’t come back even for “$300 million and a million alpacas.” At the time, he spoke about feeling betrayed by the studio, saying, “There was a deep and distinct sense of feeling betrayed by the people that I’ve worked hard for… People that I delivered a character to that they initially despised, but I stuck to my guns with the character, and it seemed to work.”

Since then, Depp has focused on smaller, independent projects, staying mostly outside of Hollywood. Whether he officially returns as Jack Sparrow is still up in the air—but it sounds like the door is open again.

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