Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean Reboot Wants Karen Gillan in the Lead?
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Who would have thought that a series of movies based on a theme park ride would do so well? Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been one of the studio’s most successful of all time, and with the last installment having come out a few years ago, all eyes are on where they will take the story next. Well, a recent report states that the studio is pressing ahead, but with some changes in mind, namely that it Pirates of the Caribbean 6 will feature a brand new, female lead.
According to the report, Disney even knows who they want to cast, with the studio apparently looking at Guardians of the Galaxy and Jumanji: The Next Level star Karen Gillan to head up the future of the franchise in the untitled sixth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean saga. Currently, it is unclear at this time whether any formal talks between the two parties have taken place, but apparently Disney are very interested in bringing in the Marvel star.
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The same report also claims that Disney is going the reboot route for the Pirates of the Caribbean series, which would, of course, mean that Johnny Depp’s beloved Captain Jack Sparrow would no longer be involved. This will reportedly save the studio an eye-watering $90 million.
Alongside the potential casting of Gillan comes a contradictory rumor, which is that Disney is also considering casting a woman of color for the lead role. This could very well be their intention should talks with Gillan not come to a satisfying conclusion. At present, character and story details are being kept well under wraps.
With regards to the Disney Parks attraction from which the hugely successful movie franchise spawned, Karen Gillan’s casting makes a lot of sense and could mean that the movie will be centered on the character Redd, the popular female pirate featured in the Disney attraction and who acts as a meet-and-greet character.
Back in October, Disney tapped Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and Ted Elliot, who wrote the previous Pirates of the Caribbean movies, to bring something fresh to the long-running franchise and take things a new direction. Series regular Jerry Bruckheimer and National Treasure’s Chad Oman will produce the upcoming sixth movie. A director has yet to be picked, but Disney has several names they’ve looked at, however they are being kept under wraps for the time being.
Though rumors have ebbed and flowed surrounding Johnny Depp’s involvement, the idea of a reboot suggests that he will not be included, though potentially Jack Sparrow could feature in a small cameo just to past the torch, as it were. Back in 2018, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, Sean Bailey, discussed the potential reboot, avoiding the question of Depp’s involvement.
“We want to bring in a new energy and vitality. I love the [Pirates] 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.”
With 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales showing that the franchise has indeed started to take on water, a reboot fronted by Gillan could well be the right way to go. This comes to us from The Disinsider.