Disney is reportedly considering Ayo Edebiri to follow in Johnny Depp’s footsteps in the next instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Disney is reportedly considering Ayo Edebiri to follow in Johnny Depp’s footsteps in the next instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Disney is looking for a new pirate to fill the void left by Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise — and a certain award-winning actor is appearing as a clear favourite.
The studio is reportedly considering Ayo Edebiri to follow in Depp’s footsteps in the next instalment of the hit franchise, which will be titled Pirates 6, according to several outlets.
The actor — best known for her Golden Globe-winning role in comedy-drama The Bear — is allegedly tipped to play Anne, a character said to be based on real-life pirate Anne Bonny.
Pirates 6 is said to be a female-fronted movie that centres on a younger cast of pirates searching for hidden treasure.
Variety reported in 2020 that Disney would produce two more Pirates of the Caribbean reboots, one of which would have a strong female cast led by Barbie actor Margot Robbie.
Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced all five Pirates of the Caribbean films featuring Depp, was attached to both planned projects. However, in 2022, Robbie revealed to Vanity Fair that the studio “don’t want to do it” anymore.
Ayo Edebiri with The Bear co-star Jeremy Allen White at this year's Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. Photo / AP
“We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led — not totally female-led, but just a different kind of story — which we thought would have been really cool,” she told the publication. “But I guess they [Disney] don’t want to do it.”
In another follow-up interview, Bruckheimer assured fans the film would still be made.
“It’s alive for me. It’s alive for Disney,” the producer revealed, according to The Sun.
“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.”
Edebiri has been making headlines off the back of her success on the FX series The Bear, in which she portrays chef Sydney Adamu alongside Jeremy Allen White, a famous chef who returns to his home town of Chicago to take over his late brother’s sandwich shop.
Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri in The Bear.
Edebiri has also been the voice behind characters in Big Mouth, Clone High,Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
In 2020, Depp was axed from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise after his ex-wife Amber Heard made domestic violence allegations against him.
The star later sued her for defamation and, during the 2022 court trial, reflected on Disney’s decision to cut him from the franchise.
Johnny Depp was axed from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise in 2020 after ex-wife Amber Heard made domestic violence allegations against him. Photo / AP
“Captain Jack Sparrow was a character that I had built from the ground up and was something that I put a lot of — you put a lot of yourself into characters,” he told the jury.
“And also having worked on those films with those people, and having put a lot of my own rewriting, dialogue, scenes, and jokes and whatever they are.
“I didn’t quite understand how, after that long relationship, and quite a successful relationship, certainly for Disney, that suddenly I was guilty until proven innocent.”
