A "weird" new Pirates of the Caribbean movie is on the way

Avast, mateys! Craig Mazin, best known for writing Chernobyl and The Last of Us, is working on a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie – and he has an update we should all treasure.

While speaking to the L.A. Times, Mazin revealed that he’s working with long-time Pirates veteran Ted Elliott, who wrote Curse of the Black Pearl and On Stranger Tides. Despite the dream team behind the project, Mazin thought it wouldn’t get made.

He said, "We pitched it and thought there’s no way they’re buying it, it’s too weird. And they did!"

For now, though, the new Pirates movie has to navigate the stormy waters of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes before setting sail into uncharted territory.

"Then he wrote a fantastic script and the strike happened and everyone’s waiting around,” Mazin revealed of the project’s status.

Previously, producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that they were "very close" to a new Pirates movie – presumably using Mazin and Elliott’s script – with a different cast. A Margot Robbie-starring Pirates movie was also mooted but hasn’t yet got moving.

"Oh God, they’re all hard. I think we’re getting very close on that one, too. We have a very good script," Bruckheimer told The Hollywood Reporter in December 2022. "We developed two of them — the one with Margot Robbie and one with a younger cast. The Margot Robbie one needs a little more work. The younger cast one is close. Hopefully we’ll get both of them."

On Robbie’s Pirates movie, Bruckheimer added: "It’s alive for me. It’s alive for Disney. I’m sure she was disappointed it didn’t go first — or maybe not because she’s very busy, so it might be a blessing to push this a bit. We believe we’ll get it made. It’s a very strong story."

For more on what's coming our way, check out our guides to upcoming movies and new Disney movies.