It may be the pirate’s life once again for Terry Rossio. Disney is currently looking to freshen up the long-running and highly profitablePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise. This has proved to be a cash cow for the studio dating back to 2003 when the first installment was released. However, Johnny Depp isn’t the star he once was and they’re hoping to take the franchise in a new direction, not centered on Jack Sparrow. Now, it looks like Rossio may be the guy to make that happen.
According to a new report,Terry Rossiois in talks to pen the screenplay for thePirates of the Caribbeanreboot. This comes not long after the writing duo of Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, best known for their work on the very successfulDeadpoolmovies, departed the project. It was initially revealed in October 2018 that the hot-ticket screenwriting duo had been tapped by the Mouse House to give their magic touch to the new project. But their time with it was short-lived, as it was recently brought to light that they had departed the project for reasons that weren’t terribly clear. Though, we would chalk that one up to creative differences.
In any event, that has made room for Terry Rossio to come in. Interestingly enough, Rossio penned the first installment of the franchise,Curse of the Black Pearl, while also tackling the fourth movie,On Stranger Tides, which wasn’t quite a reboot, but did serve as an offshoot of sorts from the main storyline the first three movies had followed. So, Rossio has been the guy that Disney has called upon to renew this series in the past. It’s also worth noting thatOn Stranger Tidesgrossed $1.04 billion worldwide, just shy of the series' top earner,Dead Man’s Chest.
Point being, Terry Rossio knows this franchise and he’s got a long, proven track record. Some of his other credits includeShrek, the originalAladdin, alongsidebombs like The Lone Ranger, but that would be tough to pin on him. Looking at the body of work, he seems like a safe choice to some degree. But ifDisneyis serious about making this franchise new again, he certainly seems like a less intriguing choice than Reese and Wernick. It needs to ride the line of maintaining the elements people liked in the first place while giving everyone something that feels new. No easy task.
This project may end up becoming a non-priority anyway. TheDisney merger with Foxwill close next week and, at that time, they will have more franchises than they know what to do with. As such, they may divert their focus elsewhere and give this one time to marinate until the time is right. Then again, this is a $4.5 billion franchise we’re talking about. At this point, things are a little uncertain, but thePirates of the Caribbeanreboot certainly isn’t dead. This news was first reported byDiscussing Film.
