EXCLUSIVE: Disney is exploring a reboot of its billion dollar Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The studio has met with the writing team of Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick and they are in early talks to write the script. Reese & Wernick are the writers behind the first two Deadpool blockbusters, and before that wrote Zombieland and its sequel, and 6 Underground, the action film that Michael Bay is directing for Netflix with Ryan Reynolds starring.

Jerry Bruckheimer will continue to captain the ship as producer on Pirates of the Caribbean, but at this point it is too early to say who else might be back and that includes Johnny Depp, who has channeled Rolling Stones’ rogue Keith Richard in playing Jack Sparrow through the first five films. It is not surprising the studio will try to breathe new pirate life into the franchise, as the first five films grossed north of $4.5 billion over 14 years.

The Pirates of the Caribbean movie series is set to take a new direction without Johnny Depp reprising his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow.

When asked if the franchise can "survive without Johnny Depp", Disney's production chief Sean Bailey revealed there is an opportunity for the next film to be revamped.

"We want to bring in a new energy and vitality," Bailey told The Hollywood Reporter.

Depp played the drunk and witty pirate in five films across 15 years.

The studio has brought in Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to execute the reimagined vision.

"I love the movies, but part of the reason Paul and Rhett are so interesting is that we want to give it a kick in the pants - and that's what I've tasked them with."

The 55-year-old's Captain Jack Sparrow was the main star of the first five films, released between 2003 and 2017.

The 55-year-old's Captain Jack Sparrow was the main star of the first five films, released between 2003 and 2017.

Speaking with the Daily Mail in October, Pirates of the Caribbean writer Stuart Beattie said Depp's brilliance as Sparrow helped grow his career.

"He's had a great run," says Beattie.

"I think Jack Sparrow will be [Depp's] legacy. It's the only character he's played five times, it's the character he dresses up in to visit children in hospitals, and it's what he'll be remembered for.

"It's been great for us, so I'm just very, very happy about it."

Beattie first came up with the concept in 1993 and the first film took 10 years to be made.

The first 'Pirates' film, The Curse of the Black Pearl, was released in 2003, while the most recent movie in the franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales, hit the big screens in 2015.

EXCLUSIVE: Disney film production chief Sean Bailey’s effort to retool and relaunch the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is back in uncertain waters after the defection of Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick, the hot-shot writing team behind Fox’s mighty Deadpool franchise.

The Pirates of the Caribbean reboot has set sail once again. Deadline has confirmed that Disney has brought on Emmy-winning Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Ted Elliott, who co-wrote the first four Pirates films, to craft a story for a new Pirates movie. This comes after Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the Deadpool screenwriters who were originally hired to write the script for a sixth installment, dropped out earlier this year. The film is in the early development stage with producer Jerry Bruckheimer expected to return to the Johnny Depp-steered franchise. Depp launched the films as the bleary buccaneer Jack Sparrow but recent legal drama leaves it unclear on whether he will reprise his role. The films have collectively grossed over $4.5 billion worldwide.

The studio has brought in Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to execute the reimagined vision.

Craig Mazin recently told the Los Angeles Times that the script for “Pirates of the Caribbean 6” is so weird he is surprised Disney actually bought it. Variety reported in summer 2020 that Disney was in early development on two “Pirates” movies: A reboot led by Margot Robbie and a sixth film in the original franchise written by Mazin and Ted Elliott, the latter of whom co-wrote the first four “Pirates” movies.

“We pitched it and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird,” Mazin said. “And they did! And then he wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around.”

The last “Pirates” movie, “Dead Men Tell No Tales,” opened in 2017. Robbie told Vanity Fair last November that her movie, written by “Birds of Prey” scribe Christina Hodson, had been dropped, adding, “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.”

Franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer then clarified that the script for Robbie’s “Pirates” will “come forward at a certain point.” He said the project wasn’t completely dead, but that Disney was prioritizing Mazin and Elliot’s script instead. The plot for that “Pirates” film remains under wraps, and it’s anyone’s guess if it involves the return of Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow. Hollywood has shut out Depp in recent years amid legal troubles and his 2022 libel trial against Amber Heard.

Bruckheimer expressed uncertainty over Depp returning to the “Pirates” franchise when asked about it by The Sunday Times in May 2022. “[Will Johnny Depp be back?] Not at this point,” he said at the time. “The future is yet to be decided.”

Mazin is best known currently as the co-creator of HBO’s Emmy-nominated “The Last of Us,” but he has a handful of experience scripting Hollywood sequels such as “The Hangover II,” “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” and more.