To begin with a ancedote; one of my favourite rides when I visit Disneyland Paris is definitely the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ ride. It provides everything I want from a ride; enough leg room and enough time for a fast nap. In all seriousness, not only is it one of my favourite rides; it is a fan favourite Disney ride which has managed to spawn 5 films in the Johnny Depp-led franchise. These films have grossed impressive amounts at the box office however, by the time the credits rolled on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’, it seems that Disney came to the decision to take a different approach to the franchise.
Back in October, it was announced by Deadline that Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick would be writing the screenplay for the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ reboot. Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are known for their work on ‘Deadpool’, ‘Deadpool 2’, ‘Zombieland’ and ‘Six Underground’ and in my opinion, both writers would’ve provided a fresh reboot into the franchise. However, things did not go as planned and earlier this year, it was also reported by Deadline that Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick had left writing duties on the reboot.
With things unclear on what was happening with the franchise going forward, we are able to provide an update regarding the franchise’s status. Terry Rossio who is known for writing the screenplays for ‘Aladdin’, ‘The Lone Ranger’, Chris McKay’s ‘Jonny Quest’ and most importantly; the screenplays for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ is in talks to write the screenplay for the upcoming ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ reboot.
Johnny Depp will not reprise his role with the reboot set to take the franchise in a new direction. There has also been minor discussions of injecting the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise into television avenues such as Disney+ but no official discussions have been taken regarding pursuing this idea at Disney at this time. Hiring Rossio to write the screenplay for the reboot seems like a safe decision for Disney. Nevertheless, if this reboot keeps the franchise going, I’m all for it, especially if Rossio brings the same writing charm that he injected into ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’.
Disney are yet to respond for comment regarding this story.
