Original Pirates of the Caribbean Writer Returns for Reboot?

Disney is reportedly going back to where it all started for their Pirates of the Caribbean reboot with writer Terry Rossio coming on board.

It may be the pirate's life once again for Terry Rossio. Disney is currently looking to freshen up the long-running and highly profitable Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. This has proved to be a cash cow for the studio dating back to 2003 when the first installment was released. However, Johnny Depp isn't the star he once was and they're hoping to take the franchise in a new direction, not centered on Jack Sparrow. Now, it looks like Rossio may be the guy to make that happen.

According to a new report, Terry Rossio is in talks to pen the screenplay for the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot. This comes not long after the writing duo of Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, best known for their work on the very successful Deadpool movies, departed the project. It was initially revealed in October 2018 that the hot-ticket screenwriting duo had been tapped by the Mouse House to give their magic touch to the new project. But their time with it was short-lived, as it was recently brought to light that they had departed the project for reasons that weren't terribly clear. Though, we would chalk that one up to creative differences.

In any event, that has made room for Terry Rossio to come in. Interestingly enough, Rossio penned the first installment of the franchise, Curse of the Black Pearl, while also tackling the fourth movie, On Stranger Tides, which wasn't quite a reboot, but did serve as an offshoot of sorts from the main storyline the first three movies had followed. So, Rossio has been the guy that Disney has called upon to renew this series in the past. It's also worth noting that On Stranger Tides grossed $1.04 billion worldwide, just shy of the series' top earner, Dead Man's Chest.

Point being, Terry Rossio knows this franchise and he's got a long, proven track record. Some of his other credits include Shrek, the original Aladdin, alongside bombs like The Lone Ranger, but that would be tough to pin on him. Looking at the body of work, he seems like a safe choice to some degree. But if Disney is serious about making this franchise new again, he certainly seems like a less intriguing choice than Reese and Wernick. It needs to ride the line of maintaining the elements people liked in the first place while giving everyone something that feels new. No easy task.

This project may end up becoming a non-priority anyway. The Disney merger with Fox will close next week and, at that time, they will have more franchises than they know what to do with. As such, they may divert their focus elsewhere and give this one time to marinate until the time is right. Then again, this is a $4.5 billion franchise we're talking about. At this point, things are a little uncertain, but the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot certainly isn't dead. This news was first reported by Discussing Film.