Producer Jerry Bruckheimer told Collider that the team behind Pirates of the Caribbean 6 is "still working on a screenplay" and that Johnny Depp may rejoin the franchise "if he likes the way the part's written."
Bruckheimer's remarks are the clearest signal yet that Disney's plans for a sixth film are alive, even if rudimentary: the project would be the first new story in the saga since 2017's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and the first new entry in nearly a decade for a franchise whose first five movies are available to stream on Disney+.
The scale of what a new movie would need to resolve is large. The franchise has been in and out of development since at least October 2019, and Bruckheimer said the film does not have a script, production timeframe, or cast in place yet. He added the team is "still working on a screenplay" and that they are "close on part of it," signaling some progress even as core elements remain unmade.
That progress matters because the Pirates brand has delivered blockbuster returns: three of the first four films became $1 billion box-office hits. A sixth installment would attempt to rekindle a tentpole that has been largely dormant since 2017 and that carries both commercial weight and creative baggage.
The story world itself complicates any simple reboot. In Dead Men Tell No Tales, Brendan Thwaites's Henry Turner broke the trident of Poseidon and destroyed every sea curse in place, an act that freed Will Turner from his duty as the Captain of the Flying Dutchman. Earlier, in 2007, Will Turner stabbed the heart of Davy Jones in At World's End—plot moves that reshaped who can sail, who is cursed and what narrative openings a new film must honor or reinvent.
Development has not been smooth. The production cycle has been affected by behind-the-scenes issues, including Johnny Depp's long legal battle with Amber Heard, and Disney has moved through different stages of development on a sixth film since at least October 2019. Those off-screen factors help explain why, despite repeated talk of a sequel, nothing beyond early work and producer statements has been finalized.
The contradiction at the heart of Bruckheimer's account is plain. He insists the team is actively shaping a screenplay and that they are "close on part of it," yet he also acknowledges there is no completed script, no production schedule and no cast attached. That gap matters because Johnny Depp's return—raised explicitly by Bruckheimer—hinges on a written part he would deem acceptable; without a finished screenplay, there is nothing concrete for him to evaluate.
Put plainly: Johnny Depp remains a possible ingredient, not a confirmed cast member. Bruckheimer left the decision squarely in the hands of the material, saying Depp may rejoin "if he likes the way the part's written." Given the project's long, fitful gestation and the unresolved creative and legal context, the most realistic forecast is that Depp could return only if the screenplay delivers a role that justifies reviving his character within the post-2017 story world. Until that script exists—and until Disney signs a production timetable—any return will be conditional, not imminent.
