‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Spinoff Starring Margot Robbie Has Been Axed, Actress Says

Disney has pulled the plug on its Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff led by Margot Robbie. 

“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, but I guess they don’t want to do it,” Robbie said in a new interview with Vanity Fair. 

It was reported in 2020 that the two-time Oscar nominee was attached to a Pirates movie, with Jerry Bruckheimer to produce. This pay May, Bruckheimer—who produced the previous five films in the franchise—acknowledged to the Sunday Times that he was “talking” to Robbie, while also admitting there were two different screenplays in the works.  

“We are developing two Pirates scripts—one with her, one without,” he told the paper at the time.

Bruckheimer seemingly left the door open on a return for Johnny Depp by not ruling out the possibility entirely, saying, “The future is yet to be decided.” The next month, a rep for Depp denied rumors that the actor inked a $300 million deal to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow. 

Even though her Pirates spinoff fell through, Robbie has plenty on her plate. She will be promoting her upcoming film Babylon from Whiplash, La La Land and First Man director Damian Chazelle. She’ll also soon start filming an Ocean’s Eleven prequel, and of course, coming next summer is the much talked about Barbie movie.