Summary
- A recent apology from the Pirates of the Caribbean producer to Zoe Saldana has opened up the possibility of her return to the franchise.
- Saldana’s return could inject new star power into the series, especially since Johnny Depp’s involvement is uncertain.
- Saldana’s character, Anamaria, still has loose ends to tie up, making her return necessary and potentially setting up a spin-off film.
Zoe Saldaña has spoken openly about the unpleasant experience she had working on the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, but an apology from the producer means she could finally return to the franchise. Early in her career, Saldaña played Anamaria, a pirate whose ship was stolen by Jack Sparrow, in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the first entry in the series. Saldaña has since become one of the highest-grossing stars in Hollywood, thanks to her long-running franchise roles as Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Uhura in the Star Trek reboot series, and Neytiri in James Cameron’s Avatar saga.
Anamaria was just the sixth film role in Saldaña’s career, and she’s referred to working on Pirates of the Caribbean as “a not so good experience because of the poor management at that time.” Initially, due to this disappointment, she didn’t want to return to the franchise. But Saldaña also mentioned that after reading her comments about working on the movie in an interview, Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer personally apologized to the actor. Saldaña said that Bruckheimer’s apology was “quite honorable,” so there’s a chance that this relationship has been mended and her return to Pirates of the Caribbean might finally be possible.
Pirates of the Caribbean’s Producer Apology Could Help Zoe Saldaña Return
Since the producer of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has reached out to Saldaña to apologize, her return to the series might finally be a possibility. There’s a lot of bad blood in Hollywood, and not enough power players like Bruckheimer go out of their way to make amends with their disgruntled colleagues. While Bruckheimer’s apology is, as Saldaña said, quite honorable, the ultimate gesture of goodwill would be bringing Saldaña back for a Pirates of the Caribbean sequel and making sure it’s a positive experience to make up for the negative experience the last time she worked on the franchise.
Why Zoe Saldaña’s Pirates of the Caribbean Return Is Necessary
Saldaña might be just what the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise needs right now. Since Johnny Depp’s future involvement with the Pirates of the Caribbean movies has been up in the air for a while now, Disney will need to find some new star power to keep the hugely popular franchise going and save it from limbo. After bringing her nuanced acting and effortless charisma to other billion-dollar franchises, Saldaña could inject some of that magic into the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 provided a satisfying conclusion to Gamora’s MCU arc, so Saldaña’s schedule is now free to accommodate another franchise.
It’s not just Saldaña’s star power and schedule that make her return to the Pirates of the Caribbean series necessary; her character has some loose ends left to tie up, too. In The Curse of the Black Pearl, Anamaria was promised ownership of the Interceptor, the ship that Jack had stolen to chase the Black Pearl, to make up for the theft of her own ship. But since she never appeared in any of the sequels, her fate remains unknown. Anamaria could be the star of her own spin-off film, sailing the seven seas in her new ship and getting into all kinds of wild adventures.
Zoe Saldaña Should Return In Margot Robbie’s Pirates of the Caribbean Movie
While a sixth film in the mainline Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been stuck in development hell for a while now, there is a female-led spin-off movie in development with Margot Robbie set to star. Christina Hodson, the writer of Bumblebee and Birds of Prey, is on board to provide the script for the new movie. This movie is being developed separately from the sixth Pirates of the Caribbean installment, and despite its delays (and rumors of cancelation), Bruckheimer is committed to getting the project off the ground and telling the story that Hodson has cooked up.
This would be the perfect Pirates of the Caribbean project for Saldaña to reprise her role as Anamaria. It’s unclear when this story is set on the franchise timeline, or if Anamaria’s return even makes sense for the story it’s telling, but bringing back a strong but forgotten female character from the very first film would line up perfectly with the spirit of a female-driven spin-off. Both Saldaña and Robbie are widely acclaimed A-listers and it would be great to see them share the screen – especially as a pair of swashbuckling pirates in an action-packed adventure on the high seas.