Fact Check: the Truth Behind 'Jack Sparrow on the Run' and Sequel Misconceptions
By Robert Thorne
Behind the gates at Walt Disney Studios, the maritime franchise is far from dead, but its actual direction looks radically different from online rumors. Longtime producer Jerry Bruckheimer has maintained in multiple production briefings that development work on Pirates of the Caribbean 6 is split between two distinct creative tracks.
The primary path in active development is an outright Disney franchise reboot. Scripted by The Last of Us showrunner Craig Mazin alongside veteran franchise scribe Ted Elliott, this screenplay introduces a completely fresh slate of buccaneers. Mazin noted in industry interviews that studio executives bought the pitch specifically because its premise was unexpectedly unusual.
A secondary screenplay, once positioned as an alternate pathway starring Margot Robbie, remains on the shelf. While Robbie indicated in late 2022 that the female-led spinoff had stalled, Bruckheimer clarified that the script simply took a back seat to the Mazin-Elliott reboot. Crucially, neither of these tracked screenplays carries the subtitle Jack Sparrow on the Run, nor does either project center its narrative spine around Johnny Depp's character.
Robert Thorne covers electric vehicle innovations, autonomous driving systems, global mobility trends, and automotive engineering developments.
