Producer Jerry Bruckheimer Wants Johnny Depp Back for Sixth Movie: ‘I Think He Would Do It’

“It’s all about what’s on the page, as we all know,” Bruckheimer said of Depp’s potential return to the franchise

Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006).

Jerry Bruckheimer is all for a Johnny Depp return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

The producer told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published Tuesday, Aug. 12, that he has spoken to Depp about a sixth film — and that there is a way he believes Depp would reprise his iconic Capt. Jack Sparrow role.

“If he likes the way the part’s written, I think he would do it,” said Bruckheimer, 81. “It’s all about what’s on the page, as we all know.”

Depp, 62, first played Jack Sparrow in the original 2003 Pirates film The Curse of The Black Pearl, followed by four sequels: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), At World’s End (2007), On Stranger Tides (2011) and Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017).

Following Depp’s court victory against ex-wife Amber Heard in June 2022, a representative for the actor told PEOPLE that a report claiming he would return to the Pirates franchise was “false.” But in July 2023, a source close to Depp said he could potentially return to the series.

Jerry Bruckheimer and Johnny Depp during the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, on June 28, 2003.

Depp costarred with Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley for Pirates‘ first three movies, each based on the Disneyland theme park attraction of the same name. Depp earned an Oscar nomination for playing Jack in the original film The Curse of the Black Pearl.

The actor is still navigating a return to movies that began with his 2023 French film Jeanne du Barry. Depp also recently premiered his own film Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness — which marks his first time directing a movie in over 20 years — in London on July 8.

Depp will next star alongside Madelyn Cline and frequent collaborator Penélope Cruz in the upcoming Day Drinker, his first movie from a major U.S. distributor since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018.

Bruckheimer first shared with PEOPLE in March 2024 that the studio intends to reboot the 18th-century Pirates franchise entirely, and told EW that May that the studio would also like to move forward with a separate entry starring Margot Robbie that has been in the works since at least 2020.

“It’s two different movies,” Bruckheimer said of the two films in development. “We hope to get ’em both made, and I think Disney agrees they really want to make the Margot one, too.”

Johnny Depp in London on July 8, 2025.

As for the planned reboot, Bruckheimer told EW in May 2024 that Depp “would be in it” — if it “was up to me,” as Jack is much of Depp’s creation.

“I love him. He’s a good friend. He’s an amazing artist and he’s a unique look,” the producer said. “He created Captain Jack. That was not on the page, that was him doing a little Pepé Le Pew and Keith Richards. That was his interpretation of Jack Sparrow.”

Bruckheimer also told EW at the time that screenwriter Jeff Nathanson (Young Woman and the Sea) is writing the script for the Pirates reboot, for which no casting has yet been announced.

“I think he’s cracked it,” the producer said. “He’s got an amazing third act. We just gotta clean up the first and second and then we’ll get there. But he wrote a great, great third act.”

In his more recent EW interview, Bruckheimer said, “We are still working on a screenplay. We want to make it. We just got to get the right screenplay. We haven’t quite gotten there yet, but we’re close.”