Johnny Depp has left the door open to returning as Captain Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean 6,” but has not confirmed that he will appear in the film. The actor said his potential involvement would make sense if the sequel manages to give the franchise a better ending.
“The only involvement I really want is to help them send the franchise off with a better ending,” Depp told Entertainment Tonight during the presentation of the film “Ebenezer.”
He added that he would work with producer Jerry Bruckheimer on any project. “I would go and work with Jerry on anything tomorrow. I don’t care what it is; if it’s Jerry, I trust him. We have a deep friendship,” the actor said.
Bruckheimer confirmed in the summer of 2025 that he had spoken with Depp about a new film in the franchise. At the time, the producer said that the actor would agree to return if he liked the role written for him.
“It all depends on how the role is written. We’re still working on the script. We want to make the movie, but we have to get to the right script,” Bruckheimer said.Screenwriter Jeff Nathanson is working on the project. He also wrote the screenplay for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge” in 2017. Bruckheimer said that Nathanson has already built a strong third act, but that the first and second parts of the script need additional work.
The producer has previously said that he would like Depp to return. According to him, the character of Jack Sparrow was largely created by the actor himself and was not fully developed in the original screenplay.
The Franchise Awaits Its Sixth Film
Depp played Jack Sparrow in five films between 2003 and 2017. Each of them grossed more than $650 million at the worldwide box office. “Dead Man’s Chest” from 2006 and “On Stranger Tides” from 2011 surpassed $1 billion in revenue, while all the films starring Depp have earned a total of around $4.5 billion.
The actor’s future in the franchise was called into question following his legal battles. In 2020, a British court rejected his lawsuit against the newspaper “The Sun,” while in 2022, a case in the United States filed by Depp against Amber Heard ended with a ruling in his favor on the main defamation claim. In the same case, the jury also found that Depp had defamed Heard on one of the counterclaims.
In 2020, Disney was developing two projects related to the franchise – a film starring Margot Robbie and a sixth installment in the original series. The project with Robbie did not proceed in its original form, while the film featuring Jack Sparrow remained in development. As of now, there is no official confirmation of Depp’s involvement and no release date has been announced.