Shiver me timbers! Disney considering rebooting Pirates of the Caribbean…

The House of Mouse is in fairly good shape when it comes to tentpole films, as the studio is now in charge of both Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm – both of which have full slates of potentially lucrative projects sure to keep the cash flowing in for the next handful of years. – Disney wants to reboot this franchise because the five films (so far) grossed $4.5 billion worldwide, and the franchise may be getting the reboot treatment, and it would likely be without Johnny Depp.

Notably, Depp, Geoffrey Rush (who plays Hector Barbossa), and Kevin McNally (Sparrow’s First Mate Joshamee Gibbs) are the only three actors to appear in all five of the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

It was previously rumored that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales co-director Joachim Rønning was being considered to helm the series’ sixth entry, but with Disney now talking about going in a reboot direction that may change. Disney is in talks with scriptwriters Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick to reboot the Pirates of the Carribean franchise. Reese and Wernick are the writers of Zombieland, Deadpool, and Deadpool 2.

Culturedemandsgeeks just doesn’t see it happening. First and foremost, Depp would be written out or recast. But he is the soul and the spirit of the franchise, and Johnny is absolutely key to the success of [Pirates of the Caribbean]. He’s such a unique character, and an endearing character, and such an irreverent character all in one.

At this time, neither Disney, Bruckheimer, nor Reese and Wernick appear to have commented publicly on the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot rumors.