A 'Pirates Of The Caribbean' Reboot Is Officially Confirmed, But Missing One Main Actor

For the past 15 years, Johnny Depp has starred as the eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, but he will not be picking up the bottle of rum for the next swashbuckling adventure. Disney is moving forward with plans for a rebooted sixth movie in its Pirates franchise, which will reportedly give the old heave-ho to Jack Sparrow. Yep, as wild as it sounds, Johnny Depp won't be in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but there is actually a pretty exciting reason for fans to look forward to the next movie.

The upcoming sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie sounds like it will be a notable departure from the first five films of the franchise. Disney is referring to the new movie as a reboot rather than another sequel, which suggests a massive shake-up in terms of casting and story. It is unclear if any of the original Pirates characters will be back for it, but one that we now know for sure will be M.I.A. is Jack Sparrow. This is a big shock for fans of the franchise considering that Johnny Depp's peculiar pirate has been one of the only characters to appear in every single movie up to this point. Only Captain Barbossa and Mr. Gibbs boast a similar perfect attendance record.

Sean Bailey, the president of production at Walt Disney Studios, confirmed that Johnny Depp will not be in the upcoming reboot during a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter. When asked if the reboot could survive without Depp, Bailey said that the real reason he got Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to write a reboot rather than a sequel was to revitalize the Pirates franchise:

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.

That quote also makes it sound unlikely that any of the other original Pirates characters will be back, at least not for more than just a cameo. Of course, that begs the question: Who will be the new lead character for the sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie? The rumor that has been floating around the internet for the past few months has been that a female pirate named Redd will replace Jack Sparrow in the reboot.

Although Redd has not been mentioned in any of the Pirates movies, she is already a part of the franchise. Redd was introduced as a part of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland earlier this year. A newly refurbished storyline in the ride features Redd (also known as The Redhead) being auctioned off to a group of pirates before she herself becomes a pirate after an encounter with Jack Sparrow. But since Sparrow will not be part of the rebooted movie, if the writers do a story focused on Redd it will likely be after she has already become a pirate. This will also have the fanbase making predictions on who Disney may cast to play Redd, whose most notably feature is her fiery red hair.

We will just have to wait to hear more about which direction this Pirates of the Caribbean reboot will take.