Jerry Bruckheimer Has Spoken With Johnny Depp About Returning as Captain Jack Sparrow for Pirates of the Caribbean 6: ‘I Think He Would Do It’

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has said he’s spoken to Johnny Depp about returning as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean 6 — and it sounds like the actor is interested.

“If he likes the way the part’s written, I think he would do it,” Bruckheimer told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s all about what’s on the page, as we all know.”

So, how about that script then? According to Bruckheimer, it’s getting closer and closer to completion, but there’s still work to be done. “We are still working on a screenplay,” he said. “We want to make it. We just got to get the right screenplay. We haven’t quite gotten there yet, but we’re close.”

Bruckheimer has for some time now teased the potential for Disney’s long-awaited Pirates of the Caribbean 6, which would follow 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales. Plans now appear to be firming up, with a reboot of sorts featuring a mix of new and returning characters likely.

Any return to the Pirates franchise for Depp would be surprising, given Disney cut ties with the actor (he claimed this was the result of the publication of a 2018 op-ed in which his ex-wife, Amber Heard, wrote that she had been a victim of domestic abuse).

Speaking recently, Orlando Bloom said he was open to returning as Will Turner after sailing off into the sunset with Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Swann back in 2007’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

Speaking in June, Bruckheimer confirmed “some” previous Pirates of the Caribbean actors would return for the next movie, while offering “a new take” on the franchise overall.

When asked whether a new take meant an all-new cast, Bruckheimer replied: “Well, not all new actors. We’ll have some back… I’m not going to tell you which ones — you’ll have to guess.”

Meanwhile, Depp is slowly but surely returning to the limelight. He’s currently working on creating the character of Hyde for a new graphic novel — and Ridley Scott is involved.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.