Johnny Depp In Talks For ‘Pirates 6’, Says Jerry Bruckheimer At D23; ‘Top Gun’ Producer Wants To Keep Paramount In Hollywood

We caught up with producer Jerry Bruckheimer at D23, who tells that when it comes to Pirates of the Caribbean 6, “we’re talking with Johnny [Depp], we’re working on a screenplay, and hopefully we can get this done.”

Separate from Bruckheimer, some solid sources tell us that the continuation won’t feel like just the nth tale of Captain Jack Sparrow, rather the next chapter will focus on Margot Robbie’s protagonist with Sparrow as a side character. Essentially, an evolution of the franchise.

The last Pirates of the Caribbean, 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales, was the lowest grossing in the franchise with $795.9M worldwide. Through five movies, the rich Disney live-action franchise has minted $4.5 billion at the global box office.

We also got the Top Gun franchise producer’s thoughts on David Ellison’s plans to have Paramount leave the state of California; this planned maneuver in response to the state AGs antitrust case and hold-up of the Melrose lot’s yearned merger with Warner Bros Discovery.

Bruckheimer doesn’t want to the see the big mountain-top studio in another state.

Says Bruckheimer, “Look, we want to keep ’em here. It’s unfortunate that it’s got this kind of political circle around it, which is a shame, and hopefully they work it all out, they stay here, and the business gets healthier.”

Bruckheimer has been a very vocal supporter of Ellison’s attempted grab of Warner Bros Discovery, believing that the studio titan is a lover of movies and a supporter of cinema. At a CinemaCon panel last spring with The Odyssey producer Emma Thomas, Bruckheimer said the following in response to not signing a petition against the merger:

“Look, I think the train has left the station. I think this is well on its way. You can sign all the petitions you want, but [the merger is] already being approved by European countries. It’s happening. So there’s not much we can do about it other than take [Paramount’s] David [Ellison] at his word that he’s going to make 30 movies [a year], and that would be fantastic.”