Margot Robbie-Led ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ Spinoff Killed By Disney, Oscar Nominee Says
Disney’s Margot Robbie-led Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff has been killed by the studio, per the Oscar-nominated actress.
While Disney couldn’t be reached for comment, Robbie made her remarks in an interview with Vanity Fair published on Monday.
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“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,” Robbie said, “but I guess they don’t want to do it.”
The film stemming from Disney’s theme park attraction-based franchise was first announced back in June 2020, with Batgirl‘s Christina Hodson set to pen the screenplay. It would have followed titles including The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End, On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales which together grossed more than $4.5B worldwide between 2003 and 2017, coming in as one of history’s highest-grossing film series.
Johnny Depp led all past installments as the drunken pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, though Disney parted ways with the actor amid allegations of “sexual violence” and “domestic abuse” against his ex-wife Amber Heard, which she made in a Washington Post op-ed in 2018. While Depp earlier this year sued the Aquaman actress for defamation in Virginia and won his case, he affirmed during the trial that “nothing on earth” could convince him to return to the franchise he’d once loved, given bad blood with the studio.
Robbie’s comment on the axing of her Pirates project came amid her press tour for the old Hollywood epic Babylon, which has her starring alongside Brad Pitt, Diego Calva and many more. The latest film written and directed by Oscar winner Damien Chazelle (La La Land, First Man) is slated for release by Paramount Pictures on December 23.
Even in the absence of Disney’s spinoff, Robbie’s dance card remains full. Other upcoming projects for her on the acting front include Warner Bros.’ Barbie, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and an as-yet-untitled Ocean’s Eleven film for Warner Bros., which she will also produce.
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