Yo-Ho-Ho...Hang on a minute, that's not quite right. Har har! Merry Christmas to you all, my fellow Pirates fans, and Happy Holidays for those who don't celebrate. For personal reasons, the holidays will be difficult for me, but I won't let it get me down too hard. Several things to catch up on news-wise, some official, some to make even a pirate with the blackest soul and the darkest heart sweat in his eyes. This is in part to save the personal hassle of making separate "Christmas" and "New Year's" blog posts, comparing one set of news with another again, when I can instead do just the one post to cover all bases of 2024.
- Captain Jack Sparrow
Disney media news[]
Video games: Fortnite and Disney Speedstorm[]
This past year was good for any Pirates fan who was also a hardcore gamer. Fortnite players got to enjoy a Pirates crossover through the "Cursed Sails" pass that was leaked and released between June-July. The following month saw Disney Speedstorm players able to play Pirates-themed racetracks, which released in August. Both games were able to have some juicy lore that diehard Pirates fans know, like the names "Ian Mercer" and "Theodore Groves" or the reference to Jack Sparrow's bane from an unproduced screenplay.
D23 Expo: Pirates lounge[]
Various news came out of Disney D23, including a Pirates-themed tavern and lounge coming to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World that was originally announced last year at Destination D23. This year saw some details, as well as two concept arts, that were revealed in August and in the first-ever D23 Brazil. While details are still scarce, it has been announced that the tavern will be coming sometime in 2025.
Other news[]
Pirates of Spain[]
Yes, this is a poor excuse of a title, but I couldn't think of a better summarizing of the following. The first and most important being that 2024 saw the 50th birthday of Penélope Cruz. Cruz is better known amongst Pirates fans as Angelica in P4: On Stranger Tides, as well as the wife of Javier Bardem, who played Salazar in P5: Dead Men Tell No Tales/Salazar's Revenge. In honor of Ms. Cruz turning half-a-century, I posted a celebratory blog post, with various information that may or may not be known to you.
Cruz, Bardem, and Captain Jack Sparrow himself Johnny Depp were later seen attending the 2024 San Sebastian Film Festival in September. Cruz shared a selfie of herself posing with Depp to her Instagram Stories, while Bardem gave an emotional speech while accepting an award. Steering away from Ms. Cruz and towards Mr. Depp, the children of the Donostia University Hospital were visited by Captain Jack Sparrow himself, one of many fan encounters with Depp in costume.
In Memoriam[]
Unfortunately, while this year may have been better than most (as far as I know), not every year is without some tragedy, which I am sad to say I was late for when I first posted it. June 23 saw the passing of Tamayo Perry, a renowned lifeguard celebrated for exceptional surfing talent as well as one of six lucky candidates who became a core group of Queen Anne's Revenge pirates for filming On Stranger Tides. Of course, Mr. Depp wished a final farewell to Mr. Perry, which you can see above, by sharing a black-and-white photo of Perry and his wife, Emilia. While uncredited for the role, Mr. Perry's contribution won't be forgotten here.
James Ward Byrkit[]
No, you didn't miss anything. Unlike the rest of this blog, this section covers some "new" news.
James Ward Byrkit is a key figure to the Pirates franchise, originally hired by Gore Verbinski as the conceptual consultant to the original Pirates trilogy, creator of the navigational charts (including uncredited work in P4), director of the short film Tales of the Code: Wedlocked, a special guest on the Disney+ series Prop Culture, AND the first POTC Wiki interview back in 2012. Indeed, it was as much a pleasure to learn more about his work just as it was to interview who I think should have been Verbinski's successor as a director of Pirates feature films...ahem, but I digress. Anywho, Mr. Byrkit had some particular activities on YouTube:
The first two videos are interesting, as they were originally shared on Jim Byrkit's website. One was a "Pirates of the Caribbean Scout" video recorded in 2004, likely for the back-to-back productions of the original Pirates sequels. The second is actually Wedlocked, which at the time was exclusively released through the Four-Movie Collection, but a password protected video held the short film. The third video, however, is not exclusive to Byrkit's YouTube channel but to The S.E.A., where Byrkit discussed his work, including Pirates.
Pirates of the Caribbean 6...Reboot?[]
The big, fulfilling piece of news you're waiting for, right? RIGHT!?
Okay, let's be real here and now: while some information was covered in March, May, and December of this year alone, there has been very little definitely revealed about this project...bad April Fool's joke aside. And let's forget about what was covered last year and the year before that, and so on. But to try and give the gist of the news that matters as of the near future...
- Jerry Bruckheimer is the producer.
- At least two scripts are being written: one with Johnny Depp and/or Jack Sparrow, and one without.
- "Nothing has been ruled out," says one knowledgeable source.
And...that's it, albeit without additional undetermined information. Yes, Bruckheimer confirmed that a "reboot" is in the works, but is it truly a reboot or just a film that might not have Johnny Depp and/or Jack Sparrow in a starring role? And despite Margot Robbie's film being cancelled, Bruckheimer seems to have hope for it to eventually happen. Also, while Craig Mazin and P1-4 writer Ted Elliott were among those originally attached to a Pirates-related project before, P5 writer Jeff Nathanson is the sole scribe more recently involved in the potential film...but who will be writing next year? And last but certainly not least, screenwriter/producer Terry Rossio also spoke out about the next Pirates of the Caribbean film, should be "an expansion and an exploration of the Pirates universe" without trying to replace what's been done, among other details.
On a more personal note, although Pirates can happen without Jack Sparrow or any other established characters, I also feel like any future film will suffer continuity issues that make P5 seem like insignificant errors. Presuming of course we are taking the current "reboot" in the worst case scenario, as I'm thinking they'll ignore the established franchise akin to how the 2023 Haunted Mansion didn't follow the 2003 film. But I digress, as we may be talking apples and oranges here between the two franchises. As I would often suggest, animation may be another option where the franchise could continue, presuming we are meant to keep focusing on the original character, and could have the original actors reprise their roles, or at least get voice actors as they've done before with Kingdom Hearts, POTCO, Disney Infinity, etc.
Overall, at this point in time, there are more questions than answers to be had here. The reality of the situation, as some may point out, is nothing is certain until it happens. Even Mr. Rossio points out Indiana Jones, a great example whether it is Indy 4 or 5, where it took about 15-16 years to come about.
New PotC Wiki updates[]
Unfortunately, like Disney or the POTC filmmaking production team, I cannot share many new updates to the website other than the Pirates of the Caribbean Wiki community have continued to be working as hard as they can, to the best of their ability, with every new jewel added to our treasure trove. Whether it be adding newly discovered/updated information, images, or an update to our system, among other topics and discussions. If you be new to our waters, please feel free to join us and become part of our Wiki's contribution to the great work of being the best resource for Pirates fans everywhere.
One last unrelated topic, spinning off into the latest craze in hyperspace: Star Wars: Skeleton Crew! Everyone has their personal tastes on the Star Wars franchise, but for right now, let's focus on Skeleton Crew. So far, 3-4 episodes into the series, I must say I'm enjoying what was called The Goonies meets Treasure Island in the Star Wars universe, which also has some fun piratical easter eggs, like SM-33 being a reference to Mr. Smee from Peter Pan. Granted, some shows do start out great only to not stick the landing, but I'm hopeful Skeleton Crew will be the exception. We'll see.
And that be all, folks! Again, partly due to ongoing projects online and in real life, this may serve as my last blog post of 2024 as well as something for you to keep in mind as we enter the new year...presuming nothing unexpected happens, but that is a very slim chance. Until then, what are your thoughts on what has occurred within this last year? More importantly, what are your wishes and personal expectations for the coming year? Either way, I wish everyone here happy and safe holidays. More importantly, if editing-doings are going on, Keep to the Code!