It’s official now: Johnny Depp wants to return to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. It all depends on the script… and the money

It’s time to pretend to look surprised. But yes, after 9 years, a trial, several projects without him and hundreds of clickbaits announcing that, basically, his signing was a done deal, it’s now official: Johnny Depp is back in talks to appear in a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. More than two decades after the saga began, and with all of Hollywood watching him, Depp is willing to don the pirate hat and return-arrr.

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This is the day you almost signed Captain Jack Sparrow

It was Jerry Bruckheimer, the franchise’s producer, who revealed it at Disney’s D23: “We’re talking with Johnny, we’re working on a script, and hopefully we’ll be able to do it with him”. That said, apparently this time Sparrow won’t be the protagonist, but a supporting character, making Margot Robbie the main character. I mean, this won’t be just another Sparrow comeback, but rather a reboot-sequel.

this sixth installment of the franchise comes after a lot of back and forth, but Robbie is the perfect choice, especially now that Barbie 2 seems to have hit a roadblock because of David Zaslav, the head of Warner, who’s unwilling to pay the salaries its leads undoubtedly deserve. From what we can tell, in Pirates of the Caribbean they are willing to cough up the cash, and no wonder: the previous five films grossed 4.52 billion dollars, and nostalgia is still at its perfect caramelization point.

Jerry Bruckheimer reveals conversations have been had with Johnny Depp about returning as Captain Jack Sparrow in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 6’ | #D23 pic.twitter.com/52iJn7apD1

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) August 16, 2026

Obviously we still don’t know anything else, but even at this point I wouldn’t expect it before 2029, being generous. Depp is 63 right now, and, honestly, it wouldn’t be surprising if he wanted to retire good old Sparrow for good. At this point, it only depends on the script being good… And, let’s not kid ourselves, on the money.