New Pirates of the Caribbean movie starring Margot Robbie in the works from Birds of Prey team

(Image credit: DC Films)

Margot Robbie will star in a new Pirates of the Caribbean with Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson joining her to pen the script.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Robbie and Hodson's Pirates film is a separate entity from the franchise reboot, which is currently in the works from Pirates writer Tim Elliot and Chernobyl's Craig Mazin. It will not be a spin-off of the franchise that starred Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, but rather a female-fronted original story with brand-new characters under the Pirates franchise umbrella (a Pirate Cinematic Universe, if I may). Jerry Bruckheimer, longtime producer of the Pirates films, is attached to both Elliot's and Robbie's projects.

There's nary a whisper on plot or casting aside from Robbie, who will likely take the lead role. Here's hoping she steps into seawater-soaked boots and plays a crass, conniving, absolute drunk of a pirate - less Elizabeth Swann in the first movie and more Barbarossa, please.

Robbie's Harley Quinn in this year's Birds of Prey is a fantastic blueprint for a swashbuckling lady pirate: a character singularly obsessed with what she considers treasure (in this case, a bodega bacon, egg, and cheese), only willing to help out for as long as it benefits her. Whatever role Robbie plays and how she chooses to play it, this film just got bumped to the top of my list of most anticipated movies.

Robbie and Hodson didn't just collaborate on Birds of Prey; they also started the Lucky Exports Pitch Program in 2019, which aims to get more female-identifying writers hired to write action movies. Hear, hear.

The most exciting movies of 2020 and beyond (add it to the list).

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.