Pirates of the Caribbean is among one of the most famous and one of the longest-running franchises of all. The first Pirates of the Caribbean film was released way back in 2003 and was titled, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The movie performed incredibly well with both critics and general audiences and brought home significant earnings at the box office. Its success is what prompted the creation of a full franchise, which was followed up by movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
While all the movies following the first one were a mixed bag in terms of reviews, they all kept bringing in financial success, prompting sequels upon sequels, and now according to producer Jerry Bruckheimer, another sequel is currently in development, with writer Ted Elliot returning from the original first film of the franchise. Ted left the franchise for a while in between and is now back and this could mean that some of the mistakes in the sequel can be amended and the franchise could go back to its root.
However, the biggest question that plagues the franchise as it goes forward is, can it survive without its captain?
Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow is synonymous with the franchise in a way that Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is with Mission Impossible, or Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter is with Harry Potter. And ever since Johnny’s legal troubles with his ex-wife he has been let go of the franchise, and now after winning the defamation trial against Amber Heard and redeeming his reputation, Johnny has defiantly stated that nothing would make him return to the franchise after how they treated him during the entire controversy.
While a barrage of amazing characters played by great actors made the franchise what it is today, fans seem to unanimously hold the opinion that it just won’t be quite the same without Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow. So what will the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise look like in this upcoming installment? We’ll just have to wait and see.