Margot Robbie has confirmed that her Pirates of the Caribbean spin-off movie has been canceled by Disney.
In 2020, reports revealed that Robbie would headline a spin-off for the aforementioned franchise, replacing lead star Johnny Depp.
Back in August, producer Jerry Bruckheimer confirmed that a sixth entry to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is happening, thus further cementing Robbie's involvement and eventual takeover.
However, it seems that the hype surrounding The Suicide Squad star's involvement with Disney's pirate-centric franchise has died down after a new report of its unfortunate development.
Disney Cancels Pirates of the Caribbean Spin-Off Starring Margot Robbie
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Margot Robbie opened up about the female-led spin-off of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise that she was set to star in.
Robbie confirmed she had previously been "developing it for a while" but Disney "doesn't want to do it," meaning that the planned feature film will no longer be moving forward.
“We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led—not totally female-led, but just a different kind of story—which we thought would’ve been really cool, but I guess [Disney] don’t want to do it."
It's unclear how the spin-off's cancellation will impact the separate sixth mainline installment in the Pirates franchise.
Bumblebee and Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson was initially set to pen the screenplay.
Despite the unfortunate development, Hodson offered high praise to Robbie, describing the actress as a "once-in-a-generation talent" who "can do everything:"
“Her superpower and the thing that makes her a once-in-a-generation talent is that she can do everything. If you watch Margot learn a new skill, it’s pretty terrifying. When we did stunts for Birds of Prey, the stunt teams would show something to her once. She tries it once, and by the second time, she’s better than them.”
Meanwhile, the Harley Quinn actress also teased her upcoming Barbie movie alongside costar Ryan Gosling:
“People have got strong feelings. I’d much rather that than indifference. Now, let me subvert your expectations. It’s much scarier, but it’s also a great place to begin.”
Vanity Fair pointed out in its feature that Robbie is a true working producer, with the actress attending preproduction meetings, being present on set, and even getting "yelled at by agents."
When the outlet noted that many actors who get producer credits don't do any producing, Robbie admitted that it "pissed [her] off:"
“Yeah, that pissed me off. It’s so annoying because I have to fight every time.”
In the early stages of every project, Robbie has been kept off email chains or not invited to calls because some people reportedly assume that the producer credit is just a vanity title for her:
“Then everyone realizes after a few months, ‘Oh, she actually is a producer, but even still, people direct all the money questions at my producing partners, never at me. And so many times Tom and Josey have to say, ‘She’s the one to ask, actually.’ ”
Is the Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise Gone?
This unfortunate development about Margot Robbie's Pirates of the Caribbean movie could hint that trouble is brewing within the franchise, but it's likely that this setback doesn't mean that the Pirates name is completely dead under the Disney banner.
The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has earned $4.5 billion worldwide, making it the 15th highest-grossing film series of all time. This essentially means that the House of Mouse would be smart not to end it any time soon, with the studio presumably mapping out plans to properly expand it first before officially announcing their plans.
Losing a bonafide star like Robbie definitely hurts, but it's possible that her other commitments (DC-related) combined with a potential comeback for Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow could've complicated the plans for the spin-off.
Still, this doesn't mean that Robbie will not be part of any Disney-related project in the future, considering the actress' impressive resume. It's reasonable to assume that Disney has plans for the actress to star in one of the studio's projects someday, and they could be simply finding the right opportunity.
For now, it seems that Robbie will be busy with DC Studios as new CEO James Gunn appears to be set on pushing Harley Quinn at the forefront.
