It’s been nearly a decade since the last of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies set sail, but talk of a reboot or sequel has never really gone away. Orlando Bloom, who once considered passing on the role of Will Turner before embracing it as a career-defining part, has now taken some time out of his busy 2025 movie release schedule to weigh in on how Disney could “win” with another installment. And honestly, his idea makes a lot of sense.
Bloom reminded fans at Fan Expo Chicago (via Entertainment Weekly) this weekend that dead franchises just might be back. The Lord of the Rings veteran didn’t pitch an elaborate spin-off or a bold reinvention. Instead, his idea was refreshingly simple: bring the band back together. He said:
I would personally love to see everybody back. I think the way to win on that one is to get everybody back. If they can, and if everybody wanted to go back.
It’s hard to argue with that logic. While the Pirates franchise (which is streaming ith a Disney+ subscription) has experimented with new characters and shifting focuses in later films, what fans often crave is the original dynamic that made the series a global sensation in the first place and the chemistry between Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, and, of course, Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow. The Kingdom of Heaven actor doubled down on his belief that a true reunion is the only way forward:
My thing is, if the script was great and — ideally it was everybody — it'd be kind of like in for a penny, in for a pound, you know.
In other words, if Disney wants to revive Pirates in a meaningful way, half-measures won’t cut it. The audience doesn’t just want a nostalgic callback; they want the whole crew back aboard the Black Pearl. And a big factor in getting everyone on board will, of course, hinge on the script's quality.
Of course, there are some stormy seas to navigate. Johnny Depp’s highly publicized legal battles have complicated any potential comeback, and even Geoffrey Rush has weathered his own court fight in recent years. Still, longtime Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Captain Jack and the original crew hoisting the sails again. The 48-year-old English actor also speculated on where Disney might be steering the franchise next. As he put it:
What they’re thinking…is how to do it. Do you bring in a female leading character that replicates Jack in some way? I don’t know. The jury is out on how to do it again, but if [the script] was great…
Disney has previously floated ideas of spin-offs (including Margot Robbie’s much-discussed female-led project), but Bloom’s comments cut through the fog: no amount of fresh angles or reboots can replicate the lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry of the original cast.
And maybe that’s the point. If Pirates of the Caribbean really does hoist the sails again, perhaps the “way to win” is not reinventing the wheel, but bringing the crew back together one last time for a proper voyage.
If you want to revisit the best of the series, all five movies are streaming on Disney+.
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