Summary
- Margot Robbie’s thunderous success in headlining Barbie showcases her star power and makes delaying her Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff puzzling.
- Barbie’s record-breaking debut as the biggest opening for a film directed by a woman highlights Robbie’s potential to revitalize the franchise.
- With Robbie’s success in various genres and ensemble-focused movies, her Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff could reignite interest in the franchise and open new doors for its future.
Margot Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff being kept on the backburner makes less sense after her thunderous success headlining Barbie. Robbie’s multifaceted performance in Barbie reminded audiences of her star power, which drew crowds of moviegoers for the opening weekend of the Warner Bros. movie about Mattel’s iconic doll. With the domestic opening weekend gross settling at $162 million and the international take at $194 million, Barbie has made history as the biggest debut for a film directed by a woman and the 20th biggest debut of all time. These remarkable achievements make for a confusing plan by Disney in continuing to delay Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff.
Initially announced in June 2020, Margot Robbie’s women-led Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff joined plans for another direct sequel within the franchise. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s update about Pirates of the Caribbean 6 taking precedence over the spinoff contrasted Robbie’s comments about Disney not wanting to proceed with it. However, it confirmed Robbie’s movie remains in development, with Bruckheimer going as far as saying that the spinoff is “alive for me. It’s alive for Disney,” and it will eventually get made. Still, choosing to push back a Robbie-led spinoff after Barbie’s resounding success seems counterintuitive if Disney’s aim is still to revitalize the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Barbie’s Success Makes Disney’s Pirates Of The Caribbean Plan Confusing
A year after the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production president Sean Bailey was reportedly open to new energy to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. That would make sense, given Dead Men Tell No Tales had the lowest box office gross since the first movie and the worst reviews of any installment of the franchise. With five years passing since Dead Men Tell No Tales and no follow-up scheduled yet, any update could bring hope to the franchise, even with Pirates of the Caribbean 6 slowly moving forward with Craig Mazin and Ted Elliott stepping in as writers.
Given Disney’s wish to revitalize the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Barbie’s roaring success would make moving up Margot Robbie’s spinoff a better idea than insisting on Pirates of the Caribbean 6 being produced before any reboots. While another sequel would work better to conclude Jack Sparrow’s story before exploring the rest of the Pirates of the Caribbean world, that wouldn’t be necessary after so much time has passed since Dead Men Tell No Tales. Instead, Disney should capitalize on Robbie’s enormous success with Barbie as its lead and one of the producers, while also ensuring a new, refreshing story with a star with enormous charisma at its center.
Margot Robbie’s Pirates Of The Caribbean Spinoff Is Exactly What Disney Needs
Despite the fans’ lukewarm reaction to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the franchise is a long way from being considered over. Margot Robbie’s career has proven her ability to span various genres and roles successfully, and lead ensemble-focused stories, as multiple recent movies of hers proved, including Birds of Prey and Barbie. Moving forward with Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean spinoff would unite a phenomenal star with a solid but faltering franchise, potentially reigniting interest in Pirates of the Caribbean in the loudest way possible, in turn potentially opening new doors to the franchise’s future.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
