Disney isn’t ruling out Johnny Depp returning to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise

Disney hasn’t ruled out Johnny Depp returning to The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as Captain Jack Sparrow.

During an interview with The New York Times, Disney Studios Motion Picture Production president Sean Bailey talked about how the unnamed sixth film is coming along.

“We think we have a really good, exciting story that honours the films that have come before but also has something new to say,” he told the outlet.

However, when asked directly if the controversial star would be part of that new chapter, Bailey said that studio was ‘noncommittal at this point’.

While that is certainly not a yes, it's definitely not a firm no and seemingly leaves the door slightly ajar for Depp.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, there were whispers that Disney terminated its contract with the 59-year-old for the sixth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean in 2020.

It came after his unsuccessful libel trial against The Sun.

The UK newspaper had claimed that the star was abusive toward his ex-wife Amber Heard and Judge Andrew Nicol found these allegations to be 'substantially true'.

As part of his ruling, Judge Nicol said: “I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp have been proved to the civil standard.

"I also accept that Ms. Heard’s allegations have had a negative effect on her career as an actor and activist.”

The outlet also went on to report that an insider described Depp as a ‘liability’ and that his recent lawsuit loss ‘would be enough to scare any studio’.

And while the outlet had claimed that Disney wanted to sever ties with the actor ‘well before the UK trial’, Depp’s ex-agent believes differently.

“My opinion is it was related to the accusations that Amber [Heard] has made," CAA agent Christian Carino said in In a pre-recorded testimony as part of Depp’s defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife.

Following Disney’s decision to move ahead without Depp, it was confirmed in 2020 that Margot Robbie would be the star of a new movie in the franchise, with her Birds of Prey screenwriter Christina Hodson developing a script.

However, in 2022 during a Vanity Fair cover story interview, the Aussie revealed the project was no longer in the works.

“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.