Disney nixed female Pirates of the Caribbean reboot, says Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie, the glorious vision of her leading a team of Lady Pirates, is no more. Vanity Fair spoke to the actress about her female-led approach on Pirates of the Caribbean. Birds of Prey Christiana Hodson (screenwriter) is not moving forward at Disney.

“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,” Robbie said.

In 2020, the project was announced for the first time along with a separate reboot. Jerry Bruckheimer (the producer of all five Pirates of the Caribbean films) told The Sunday Times in May 2022 that the projects are still being developed. What happened in between then and Robbie’s recent statement is unclear — nor is the fate of the second project.

If Robbie is to be believed, it feels like Disney is missing out on an opportunity here, especially with HBO’s Our Flag Means DeathHow to bring pirate media Black Sails (and Pirates of the Caribbean) into the mainstream. But even despite that, it’s sad to see the project shoved into Davy Jones’ locker, because a female-forward interpretation of the swashbuckling franchise is the absolute perfect evolution for it.

Most people remember Johnny Depp’s roguish Jack Sparrow, but one thing that made the original three Pirates of the Caribbean movies stand out was just how female-centric it was for a big fantasy genre film. By making governor’s daughter Elizabeth Swann such a central character, the filmmakers — whether intentionally or not — made the movies appeal specifically to young girls. After all, it’s Elizabeth who goes on the clear hero’s journey, from kidnapped damsel to stowaway sailor and eventually Pirate King.

The Pirates of the Caribbean films became the ideal girlhood fantasyland, even though they didn’t intend it. Admittedly, there weren’t a whole lot of other women for Elizabeth to fight alongside, but that just makes a new Pirates movie centered around some badass ladies the natural next step. Instead of focusing on Jack Sparrow, the Pirates could be embracing what makes the original three Pirates films so great. Especially since the fifth movie discounted so much of her growth — you’re telling me that Pirate King Elizabeth Swann, who already went to hell and back for Will Turner, wouldn’t immediately get on a ship and sail with him to the ends of the Earth?

Unfortunately, Margot Robbie might not see her and her crew sailing the seven oceans. In the far future, Disney might realize that the only way to make that franchise successful after its two weak sequels was by making it explicitly targeted towards women.