Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has finally received another breath of fresh air, this time in the form of Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. First reported by THR, Mazin is will team up with Pirates mainstay Ted Elliott to pen what’s being hailed as a reboot to the franchise. Elliott previously wrote The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End, and On Strange Tides with Terry Rossio, his writing partner at the time. Mazin cut his comedic chops with films like Scary Movie and The Hangover before his critically-acclaimed Chernobyl mini-series for HBO this year.
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The Mouse has wanted to get another Pirates film in the works ever since Dead Men Tell No Tales hit theaters over two years ago. At one point, the studio has hired Deadpool and Zombieland scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to take a stab at the reboot script, although the pair eventually left the project earlier this year to focus on Deadpool 3 after the then-Fox-owned franchise took off critically and commercially.
Despite being reported as a Johnny Depp-less reboot, it’s expected Jerry Bruckheimer will return to the franchise as producer. Earlier this year, Disney film production boss Sean Bailey revealed the franchise would continue on without Depp after his mounting off-screen troubles.
“We want to bring in a new energy and vitality,” Bailey said. “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.”
Prior to that, former Pirates scribe Stuart Beattie told the Daily Mail he was confident Depp would be done with the franchise,off-screen woes or not.
“I think he’s had a great run. Obviously, he’s made that character his own and it’s become the character he’s most famous for now,” Beattie told the Daily Mail. “And kids all over the world love him as that character so I think it’s been great for him, it’s been great for us, so I’m just very, very happy about it.”
The first four Pirates of the Caribbean movies will available on Disney+ when it launches next month.
