During a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd, Bruckheimer said he’d love to see Depp return to the franchise. The producer said that it was unfortunate that personal issues got in the way of making the sixth Pirates film. Depp was set to return to the franchise before being let go by Disney after his former spouse Amber Heard accused him of domestic abuse. “You’d have to ask them,” Bruckheimer said of Depp’s return. “I can’t answer that question. I really don’t know. He adds, “I would love to have him in the movie. He’s a friend, a terrific actor and it’s unfortunate that personal lives creep into everything we do.” Bruckheimer was also asked by Hibberd regarding the conditions Depp set if ever he ever returns. “Depp has hinted that if he were to return, the film should have a clear ending for his character. But would you ever kill off Jack Sparrow?” Hibberd asks. “You can’t,” Bruckheimer responds. “We tried to kill him. It didn’t work.” Depp previously said during the defamation trial he wanted to return to the Pirates series to give audiences a proper farewell. “My feeling was that these characters should be able to have their proper goodbye, as it were,” Depp said. He adds, “A franchise can only last for so long, and there’s a way to end a franchise like that, and I thought that the characters deserved to have their way out, to end the franchise on a very good note. I planned on continuing until it was time to stop.” Bruckheimer distanced himself from discussing the return of Captain Jack Sparrow while the defamation trial was ongoing. The producer instead turned his attention to two new spinoff projects set in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. One project involved a younger cast of characters while another had Margot Robbie leading an all-female crew. However, Robbie recently said that her spinoff is no longer in the works. But, if you ask Bruckheimer, the project is still alive over at Disney. The producer gave updates on the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean films. “Oh God, they’re all hard,” Bruckheimer shared. “I think we’re getting very close on that one, too. We have a very good script. We developed two of them — the one with Margot Robbie and one with a younger cast.” He adds, “The Margot Robbie one needs a little more work. The younger cast one is close. Hopefully, we’ll get both of them.” It will take some time before we see either film in production. This opens up the possibility of Captain Jack Sparrow making a comeback now that Depp is past his legal troubles. We hope
