Disney was all set to sail the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise to a new horizon without the pricey Johnny Depp in tow. They first brought in Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to pen a brand new script that would have rebooted the series.

Disney’s live-action production president Sean Bailey described the script as a “kick in the pants.” But now it looks like the film isn’t happening at all as Reese and Wernick are off of the project. More on the report below.

According to Deadline, Reese and Wernick are no longer writing the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot. It’s unclear why the two parted ways, but it does put the future of the franchise in uncertain waters.

Hired back in October, the two were said to “make Pirates punk rock again.” Many praised the decision to bring the pair in to help give the franchise a much-needed rejuvenation.

The franchise as a whole has grossed over $4.5 billion, which makes it the 12th highest grossing film franchise. And while Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales only grossed a franchise-low $173 million domestically, on a production budget of $230 million, it still made an impressive $788 million worldwide haul.

Now it will be interesting to see what Disney’s next move will be. They could send it to Disney+, where it could find life as another film or maybe a TV series. There was a rumor going around that the new leading pirate would be Redd, a female pirate that can be seen on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at the Disneyland theme parks.

Sources tell the site that the search for Reese and Wernick’s replacement is on now. This would indicate that the studio is going to try to keep the franchise afloat by releasing a new reboot, which, if successful, would mean more Pirates films. Others are less optimistic, and seem to hint at the fact that Pirates is done sailing for good.

Personally, I would like to see what a Pirates franchise could be like without Jack Sparrow. Sorry, Captain Jacob Sparrow. The end of Dead Men Tell No Tales seemed to hint at the idea that there would be a new captain and crew, with the return of some old pirates we haven’t seen since At World’s End

But given the franchise’s downward box office trend, I would be surprised if they stopped at a port for a while to re-evaluate whether or not it’s a good idea to keep going. We’ll keep you posted as soon as more developments come in.

[Source: Deadline]