Margot Robbie’s upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie is reported to be a reboot, but the franchise installment would fare better with fans and critics as a spin-off from the original films. When the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise began with The Ring helmer Gore Verbinski’s swashbuckling horror-comedy-adventure hybrid The Curse of the Black Pearl back in 2003, very few film fans expected the movie to become the blockbuster phenomenon that the series is today.
Pirates movies had been considered bad news at the box office ever since Renny Harlin’s historically expensive flop Cutthroat Island arrived on cinema screens eight years earlier, and few reviewers expected this adaptation of a theme park ride to fare better. However, to the shock of critics, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was a huge hit and a genuinely clever, inventive blockbuster with a stellar cast and witty script.
The film soon spawned an entire franchise, and although the first few Pirates of the Caribbean sequels didn’t hit the same highs as the original (and critics called Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow the only redeeming feature of the later sequels), the series remained a reliable box office performer until 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales. The underwhelming box office performance of this fourth sequel, combined with the tumultuous personal life of series star Johnny Depp, resulted in Disney pursuing new avenues when returning to the series instead of relying on direct sequels. The news of a Margot Robbie-starring Pirates of the Caribbean reboot, however, split fans of the franchise, particularly with word that this new movie will not be connected to earlier outings of the series. Retooling the proposed reboot to be a spin-off of the franchise instead, however, would be a better bet than a full-blown reboot that severs any connection to the original Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean Could Use The Series Mythos
As it stands, a fully-fledged reboot would mean a fresh start for Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie. In theory, this sounds appealing, particularly when the first two Pirates of the Caribbean sequels became bogged down in plot-holed-riddled backstory when attempting to flesh out the fictional universe of the movie series. However, the later sequels On Stranger Tides and Dead Men Tell No Tales were effectively standalone adventures with little connection (outside of the latter’s brief epilogue) to the original trilogy, and these two movies received far worse reviews than even the original trilogy’s second and third installments. A clean break isn’t necessarily helpful for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, particularly when the series has already established an impressive rogue’s gallery of villains and supporting stars.
If Robbie’s movie does reboot the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, the installment's story couldn’t utilize Davy Jones, Calypso, Blackbeard, or any of the other already-established series villains that never got their due screen time in the overstuffed original trilogy. A spin-off movie could also touch on the fate of Elizabeth Swan and Will Turner, something that a reboot won’t be able to mention as it would reset the franchise continuity. Outside of specific characters, though, the proposed Pirates of the Caribbean reboot would also miss out on the lore and mythos set up by the original movies, which could be a waste of significant world-building. With a full reboot rather than a spin-off set in the same universe, Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie would essentially be a new fantasy-comedy-adventure movie that simply shares a brand name with the original series. This begets another issue with the proposed reboot…
Many Reboots Flop
Power Rangers, Ghostbusters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Mummy, Tomb Raider, Total Recall, Robocop — there are countless examples in the last decade alone of reboots failing to bring audiences in or impress critics. Reboots are forced to re-establish the basic premise and tone of their fictional universe, which too often results in familiar origin stories that offer little to draw in new viewers and inevitably invite (often negative) comparisons to the original movies for existing fans. Alternatively, a reboot can hit the ground running with a brand new adventure, but taking exposition and world-building for granted can just as often confuse as dazzle audiences. In contrast, spinoffs and sequels often fare better with both critics and fans thanks to their connection with an existing franchise and refusal to dismiss the series’ history. Mad Max: Fury Road, for example, may have recast series star Mel Gibson, but the belated sequel still managed to balance an original story with the bounds of an existing fictional universe, setting the action between The Road Warrior and the original Mad Max to give the setting a unique feel, but also a familiar place in the franchise’s large story.
Bringing Back Jack Sparrow
It’s impossible to know whether original Jack Sparrow actor Johnny Depp will take a sabbatical from acting due to his very public legal battles, with himself and former spouse Amber Heard accusing each other of domestic violence in an ongoing court case. However, if the actor does intend to keep working on his most famous franchise at any point in the future, there is currently a 500,000-strong petition looking for him to return to the role of Jack Sparrow. Whether it’s as a cameo or playing a bigger role in a sequel to Robbie’s movie, a reboot would shut down this option by removing him from the Robbie version of the Pirates of the Caribbean canon.
Tom Hardy’s replacement of Mel Gibson as Mad Max seems to similarly sever Fury Road’s connection with George Miller’s original trilogy, but the movie’s chronological placement in between two Gibson-starring Mad Max installments ensures it is part of the same continuity. However, Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie currently intends to reboot the entire fictional universe, meaning Depp’s Sparrow could not appear and the movie would cut any connection to the first five films in the franchise. With so little to connect the properties, Margot Robbie’s upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie would be better off re-establishing a connection to the original series or just changing its brand name and starting an entirely separate franchise unrelated to the movies.