‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Producer Wants Johnny Depp Back For Sixth Movie

Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer is ready to spearhead Johnny Depp’s comeback, saying he’d love to see the fallen actor reprise his role of Jack Sparrow in a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel.

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about the future of the Pirates franchise, Bruckheimer was asked about the potential of Depp returning for a sixth movie.

“You’d have to ask them. I can’t answer that question. I really don’t know,” he said, referring to Disney.

The producer added that he “would love to have [Depp] in the movie,” and went on to call him a friend and “terrific actor.”

“It’s unfortunate that personal lives creep into everything we do,” Bruckheimer concluded, referring to Depp’s highly-publicized defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard. The two were both found responsible for defamation after Depp claimed Heard defamed him by writing an op-ed about domestic violence; Depp was ultimately awarded higher compensation in damages.

Bruckheimer, who has worked with Depp multiple times in the past, produced five Pirates movies between 2003 and 2017. His extensive resume also includes executive producer credits on long-running television shows like The Amazing Race, CSI: Miami – also, CSI: NY and CSI: Vegas and Cold Case. Most recently, he produced Top Gun: Maverick and Secret Headquarters for Paramount.

Opening up about the challenges he has faced while trying to make a sixth Pirates movie, Bruckheimer said, “They’re all hard.”

“I think we’re getting very close on that one, too. We have a very good script. We developed two of them — the one with Margot Robbie and one with a younger cast. The Margot Robbie one needs a little more work. The younger cast one is close. Hopefully we’ll get both of them,” he added.

He continued to dismiss Robbie’s comments to Vanity Fair in November, during which she claimed the movie was axed. She told the outlet, “We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led—not totally female-led, but just a different kind of story—which we thought would’ve been really cool, but I guess they don’t want to do it.”

But Bruckheimer disagreed, telling THR, “It’s alive for me. It’s alive for Disney. I’m sure she was disappointed it didn’t go first — or maybe not because she’s very busy, so it might be a blessing to push this a bit.”

Bruckheimer added, “We believe we’ll get it made. It’s a very strong story.”

Maybe Bruckheimer can kill two birds with one stone. After all, Robbie has expressed that she doesn’t have any qualms working with men accused of misconduct, given her recent collaborations with David O. Russell and Brad Pitt.