Disney is reportedly considering replacing Johnny Depp’s beloved Jack Sparrow character in an upcoming “Pirates of the Caribbean” film with a female, African-American actress.
The actress, Ayo Edebiri, is reportedly the frontrunner to replace Depp in the film, tentatively titled “Pirates 6.” She stars on the series The Bear and has won a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy this year.
News.au noted that her character, Anne, is to be based on a real-life pirate named Anne Bonny.
Elon Musk reacted to the rumors on X (formerly Twitter) by stating, “Disney sucks.”
Disney sucks https://t.co/H3eucHZfVm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2024
According to Salon, rumors began years ago about a female-led “Pirates” film after Jerry Bruckheimer, a producer behind the films, said that Depp would not be returning to the film franchise after his high-profile defamation lawsuit with ex-wife Amber Heard.
At the time, the actress at the center of the "Pirates" revival rumors was Margot Robbie. In November 2022, she squashed them altogether.
“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’ve been really cool,” Robbie told Vanity Fair. “But I guess they don’t want to do it.”
Shortly after, Bruckheimer told The Sun that Robbie’s “Pirates” film would still be made.
“It’s alive for me. It’s alive for Disney,” he claimed. “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,” he said of the female-led film.
This week, Townhall reported that actress and former MMA fighter Gina Carano would sue the Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm for firing her for being “transphobic” and “racist.”
"After my 20 years of building a career from scratch, and during the regime of former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, Lucasfilm made this statement on Twitter, terminating me from The Mandalorian: “Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm & there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural & religious identities are abhorrent & unacceptable," Carano recalled in her announcement posted to X.
"The truth is I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time," Carano said. "My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt right wing extremist. It was a bullying smear campaign aimed at silencing, destroying & making an example out of me," she said in her post on X.
"The thing is I never even used aggressive language," Carano continued. "I shared thought provoking quotes, pictures, memes & occasionally I used my own words, not with aggression but with respect & the occasional comedy to keep the mood light in dark times."
It was revealed that Musk was helping Carano with her lawsuit.
“Please let us know if you would like to join the lawsuit against Disney,” he wrote on X.
Please let us know if you would like to join the lawsuit against Disney https://t.co/FnMxhUQvVA
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2024