For better or for worse (and according to most, it’s for worse), this seems to be the age of reboots and franchising. Anything that experiences mainstream success suddenly becomes a franchise, and most franchises get extended far past what anyone originally intended for them. A lot of franchises that seemed dead in the water can also get rebooted, even if there’s not a lot of popular demand for them - the multipleAvatarsequels in the works are a prime example of this.
It was announced a while ago that Margot Robbie would be heading up a newPirates of the Caribbeanmovie that would be female-led, which made a lot of fans of the franchise very excited. Others were more skeptical, as the quality of thePiratesmovies has gone down with every subsequent entry. However, Robbie recently revealed thatshe believes the film to be dead in the water, as production on it was basically going nowhere. While rebootingPirates of the Caribbeanagain might not be the best idea, there is still a way that Robbie could bring a female-led pirate flick to the big screen, just without Disney’s hand in it.
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While some were excited to see Jack Sparrow back in action, a lot of the positive response around the initial announcement was about the idea of a female-led pirate movie. Pirates are popular, especially withshows likeOur Flag Means Deathlaunching the pirate genre to new heights, and it would be really fun to have a show about a band of female pirates sailing the high seas. It would actually be better to make that movie unattached fromPirates of the Caribbean, as it gives them more creative freedom to not have to be tied down to that world and its lore.
This hypothetical show spearheaded by Robbie would be perfect as its own separate property. They wouldn’t have to worry about working within Disney’s guidelines and would be free to get as violent or gritty as they wanted to (if that was part of the vision), and they wouldn’t have to worry about tying the story back to thePiratesmovies in some way that feels forced and convoluted. If it existed on its own, it could be its own exciting story rather than turning into a mediocrePirates of the Caribbeanmovie thatdoesn’t live up to the heights of the first three moviesthat are very beloved. It would actually work the advantage of this potential show to not be tied toPirates of the Caribbean, in more ways than one.
Trying to do aPiratesmovie now would be a mess because of the recent set of controversies surrounding its star. The Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial was one of the biggest points of discussion in the entertainment industry this year, and caused a lot of mixed and volatile opinions online.Depp has fallen out of favorin the eyes of many, and so trying to relaunchPirates of the Caribbeanwith him at the helm might be a very difficult undertaking. There’s the potential that any newPiratesmovies involving Margot Robbie would be tainted by its involvement with the original franchise and Johnny Depp, so it’s almost better to let it be its own separate thing.
There are a lot of people who would love to see a female-heavy movie about pirates, but that same demographic probably doesn’t want to watch Depp on screen anymore after everything he’s been involved in, both this year and in the past. Robbie has much more of an opportunity to make a good movie if it’s unattached to any of the baggage involved with the previousPirates of the Caribbeanmovies. She has her own production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, that has a focus onfemale-driven films, so it would almost make more sense to do a pirate movie without Disney’s involvement.
In general, it would be great to have more movies that don’t fall under Disney’s reach and are making original stories independent of a franchise. Severing ties with Disney for this project would give Robbie the opportunity to do things that she wouldn’t be able to do under Disney, and it would allow the story to stand on its own and not be caught up in the shadow ofthePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise, both the good and the bad. There’s just too much controversy surrounding its main star right now, not to mention that the most recent entries in the franchise have been received less than positively. It might be out of her control, and she may have no desire to pursue the female-led pirate film further, but it would work to her advantage to do the movie (or at least a similar one) without Disney’s control.
