Johnny Depp’s return to the Caribbean pirates feels closer than ever after the latest update of Jerry Bruckheimer

For years it seemed Johnny DeppCaptain Jack Sparrow was saved forever. After Disney cut the ties with the actor in 2018, Depp notoriously said during his 2022 defamation process with Amber he heard that he would not return “for $ 300 million and one million Alpacas”.

But second a long time Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry BruckheimerThe winds could finally move.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Bruckheimer confirmed that he had been in contact with Depp to return for the sixth Pirates film. And while nothing is official, the door is open.

“If he likes the way the part is written, I think he would do it. It is what is on the page, as we all know.”

Eight years have passed since then Pirates of the Caribbean: dead men tell no storytelling hit the theaters in 2017, bringing together Depp with Geoffrey Rush, Orlando BloomAND Keira Knightley.

The plans for a sixth film have been in motion at least since 2019, but the project has faced rewrites of scripts, in evolution of creative visions, which includes a now supplied Margot Robbie-Led spin-off and delays from Hollywood strikes from 2023.

Bruckheimer says the film remains in active development. The last of us co-creator Craig Mazin initially he was working with original Pirate writer Ted Elliott before the strikes, but Dead men do not tell stories scribe Jeff Nathanson Since then he has taken over.

While Bruckheimer describes the next film as a restart, he clarified that he does not mean Jack Sparrow is outside.

“It’s a restart, but if it depended on me, it would have been inside … I love it. He is a good friend. He is an extraordinary artist and is a unique aspect. He created captain Jack … that was his interpretation, and he became iconic.”

The impact of Depp on the role is legendary. Jack Sparrow’s peculiar swallow with his mix of Pepé Le Pew and Keith Richards, was not in the script but entirely in his creation. Without it, the franchise would seem very different.

If Depp returned, he would mark a great defrosting in his relationship with Disney and a transition to successful cinema after years of focusing on independent projects.

Bruckheimer admits that there was a time when he couldn’t even secure a cameo for the actor. Now, the possibility is based on one thing: the script. “It concerns what’s on the page,” says Bruckheimer.

Nothing is still blocked, but the fact that Depp and Bruckheimer are talking could be the clearest sign of the years that Captain Jack’s compass could indicate it to the black pearl.