Let’s talk about what happened at the Producers Guild Awards this month because Jerry Bruckheimer just said the thing that every Pirates of the Caribbean fan has been waiting to hear for roughly five years and we are not going to let it get buried.
Bruckheimer — the man who has produced every single Pirates film, all five of them, the only consistent creative force the franchise has had across its entire existence — was on the press line for F1 when The Direct asked him directly about reports that Pirates 6 was being developed without Johnny Depp. His response:
“First of all, that’s not true. No, no, no. Johnny… if it’s up to me, he’ll be in it.”
That is the update. That is where we are. The producer of every Pirates movie is planning for Johnny Depp to be in the next one. Let that land for a second.
Here Is the Full Backstory Because It Is Genuinely Wild
Johnny Depp played Captain Jack Sparrow across five films starting with The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003. He turned what was considered a risky theme park adaptation into a franchise that made Disney an astronomical amount of money. By the time Dead Men Tell No Tales came out in 2017, he was reportedly earning $90 million per film. Ninety million dollars. For one movie. About a pirate.
Then the Amber Heard situation happened publicly and spectacularly. Disney cut ties. Depp was also replaced in the Fantastic Beasts franchise at Warner Bros., and that series promptly fell apart commercially. During the 2022 defamation trial in Virginia — which was one of the most-watched court proceedings since people invented televisions — Depp sued for $50 million and a jury awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, later reduced. Heard received $2 million in compensatory damages. Public sentiment shifted dramatically in Depp’s direction.
When someone asked Depp during the trial whether he would ever come back to Pirates, he said it would take “$300 million and a million alpacas.” Which is either a hard no or a negotiating position depending on how you read it.
Since then, things have been thawing. A source told People in July 2023 that “anything is possible.” In August 2025 Bruckheimer told Entertainment Weekly he had actual conversations with Depp and thought “he would do it” if the script was right. And now at the PGA in February 2026, Bruckheimer is on camera saying Depp will be in the movie if it is up to him.
That is a clear directional trend.
What Is This Movie Actually Going to Be?
This is where it gets genuinely interesting. Bruckheimer told Screen Rant while promoting F1 that the film is “a new take” with “not all new actors” — and refused to say which ones are coming back beyond a very pointed “you’ll have to guess.” Extremely frustrating! Very on brand for this franchise!
The DisInsider added more color with a report suggesting Disney’s preference is for the film to be co-led by Depp and Margot Robbie, with future installments following Robbie’s character and potentially Jack Sparrow’s son as the next generation lead. Bruckheimer has confirmed separately that the Robbie spinoff has not been scrapped, it is just running behind the mainline sixth film in development priority.
And then there is Orlando Bloom. He appeared on UK talk show This Morning and when asked about Will Turner returning said: “There’s been all kinds of things. Who knows? There’s been talk. I can’t say anything at the moment, because I really don’t know. They’re definitely… I think they’re trying to work out what it would all look like. I, personally, think it would be great to get the band back together. That would be great. But there are always different ideas, so we’ll see where it lands.”
That is not a confirmation but it is also not nothing. Orlando Bloom knows more than he is saying and we respect that.
When Is This Actually Happening?
Here is the tempering of expectations section, which we include because we love you and want you to have realistic feelings.
Bruckheimer has said that Pirates 6 and Top Gun 3 starring Tom Cruise are currently competing for his bandwidth and that the Cruise project is slightly ahead in the production queue. Meaning Pirates 6 is still in active script development and has not hit the green-light phase yet. Variety reported in late 2024 that “nothing has been ruled out” regarding Depp’s involvement but that language — “nothing has been ruled out” — is studio speak for “we have not decided yet.”
Any deal to bring Depp back would be expensive. His historical salary made that clear. And Disney has been more cautious about big budget commitments lately after some underwhelming theatrical returns. None of that makes the deal impossible, it just means nothing is signed and the timeline is genuinely unknown.
Here is the real talk: the momentum on this is more positive than it has been at any point in the last several years. Bruckheimer is the most powerful voice in this franchise, he is saying Depp is part of his plan publicly and on camera, Bloom is hinting at conversations, and the script is actively being developed. The $300 million and a million alpacas era appears to be softening into something more like “get the script right and we will talk.”
If you have been waiting for a reason to get excited about Pirates 6 again, Bruckheimer at the PGA is that reason. Stay tuned and keep an eye on any casting and script news that drops — when this one moves, it is going to move fast.
