RUMOR: Disney Wants Ayo Edebiri for Pirates of the Caribbean Reboot

Movies

A new pirate captain may be swigging down the rum soon. A new report from insider Daniel Richtman (via CBR because Richtman’s blog is behind a paywall) says that Disney is preparing to reboot the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise with a new lead, and they want Ayo Edebiri to play the role. Edebiri was the voice of April O’Neill in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and stars in the Hulu series The Bear, for which she just won a Golden Globe. This comes after Disney fired Johnny Depp, who starred as Captain Jack Sparrow in all the Pirates of the Caribbean films, after his ex-wife made abuse allegations against him and Depp subsequently resolved not to return to the role after his name was cleared in court. According to CBR, it’s believed this is the Pirates movie Craig Mazin and Ted Elliott teased during the writers’ strike, not the one being developed with Margot Robbie in the lead role.

If all this is true, it means Disney is developing two Pirates of the Caribbean reboots, and they’re both female-led. They’re wearing that South Park “Put a chick in it, make her gay” satire as a badge of honor, aren’t they? This seems like an odd choice to me, even if you’re determined to have both movies feature women as the captains. I get pursuing Margot Robbie, a popular movie star, especially now that she’s got Barbie under her belt. But why would you put someone as unknown as Ayo Edebiri in the lead of a tent pole movie, especially ones sold on the main character’s personality? Even if she’s a good actress, she’s not a big name like Robbie; The Bear is getting a lot of critical acclaim, but its reach is limited to Hulu subscribers, and her most famous movie only featured her voice. They’re not going to make people forget about Johnny Depp with her. Although, to be fair, I don’t think Margot Robbie or anyone else will make people forget about Depp or why he isn’t in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies anymore. I don’t see either of these reboot attempts going well, and while I’m sure Disney wants to wring every penny they can out of the franchise, they’d probably be better off accepting that they threw it away when they stabbed Captain Jack in the back.