Pirates of the Caribbean: Austin Butler Addresses Reboot Rumors

The Dune Part Two star claims to be unaware of any reboot talks.

By Patrick Cavanaugh

In the seven years since Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, a number of rumors and reports about the future of the franchise have emerged, whether they be about a new sequel or a reboot of the property. One such rumor claims that Elvis and Dune Part Two star Austin Butler would be joining the franchise, though Butler himself recently claimed that he was unaware of such casting rumors. Despite being oblivious to those rumors, the actor went on to express his love for the series, even claiming that he did a school project about the movies when he was a kid.

"Oh really? I haven't heard about that," Butler responded to Entertainment Tonight about the rumors. "I loved Pirates of the Caribbean."   

He continued, "Who knows? I haven't heard anything about that. That just reminded me of when I was a kid. In elementary school, we had to make these posters that had like your favorite music, your favorite actors. And at that time -- I don't know what grade, it must have been fourth grade, third grade or something -- but it was ... Pirates of the Caribbean was on there."

Before the franchise officially launched in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the original ride that inspired the adventure was a touchstone for Disney fans. With all five films going on to take in more than $4.5 billion worldwide, Butler knows the bar is set high for whatever the future might hold.

"It's a hard one to touch because they did it so well," Butler admitted. "I loved what Johnny [Depp] did with that."  

Dead Man Tell No Tales performed worst in the whole franchise with critics, sitting at only 30% positive reviews according to aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, though it still brought in nearly $800 million worldwide. That fifth film did perform poorest at the domestic box office, however, which likely resulted in the filmmakers reevaluating how to move forward with the series. 

Some of the rumors about where the franchise is headed include the development of a sequel, a reboot, and a female-fronted spinoff with Margot Robbie as the lead. Back in March, producer Jerry Bruckheimer claimed that the next chapter would be a "reboot," though it's unclear if this would be a project involving Robbie or if it would be a complete overhaul, which could potentially see a new actor taking on the role of Jack Sparrow.

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Stay tuned for updates on the future of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Would you like to see Butler in the franchise? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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