Margot Robbie cast in female-led ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, Johnny Depp fans want Jack Sparrow back
‘Birds of Prey’ writer Christina Hodson is all set to write a new, female-fronted ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film for Disney and Margot Robbie has already been cast for it.
According to an exclusive report in The Hollywood Reporter, this film is not intended to be a spinoff of the long-running ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise. Instead, it is supposed to be an original story with new characters. Per the report, this new project is separate from the already-announced ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ reboot, being written by longtime 'Pirates' writer Ted Elliott, and Craig Mazin of ‘Chernobyl’ fame.
Aside from Hodson and Robbie, longtime ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ producer Jerry Bruckheimer is attached not only to this project but also to the reboot.
Fans are excited not just because of another Robbie-Hodson collaboration, but also for an all-new ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film. A fan wrote on Twitter, “Margot Robbie in a ‘Pirates’ movie isn’t something I knew I needed but I absolutely do need it and I need it now.”
But what seemed to have many people worrying was that this new project would not likely have Captain Jack Sparrow, the franchise’s lead character, played by Johnny Depp. Actor Vincent Marcus wrote on Twitter, “Very happy for Margot Robbie on landing the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie! She’s gonna kill it! But can we agree that Johnny Depp should still play Jack Sparrow because his lying a** ex-wife fabricated stories about being abused and almost ruined his life? Savvy?”
Another fan of the franchise wrote, “I would just like to point out that I’m not against Margot Robbie starring in a 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' movie. I just think she should be starring alongside Johnny Depp who made the franchise what it is.”
Another fan expressed this through a different film franchise. They wrote, “Having an ‘Indiana Jones’ without Harrison Ford would be f***ing s***. just like a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ without Johnny Depp would be f***ing s***.”
But there were some who held a different view. A fan wrote in that regard, “People railing on the idea of Margot Robbie leading a new ‘Pirates’: A. need to f***ing appreciate the brilliant character actor she is, and she's absolutely capable of being a new [Jack] Sparrow level character, and B. [Depp] certainly has not held the franchise up because, have you seen those last two movies?”
Both 2011's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides', and 2017's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' were largely panned by critics as well as fans of the original trilogy. While Depp's performance as Sparrow remained mostly the same, both films had weak plots.