THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – This project is separate from the already announced franchise reboot being developed by ‘Pirates’ scribe Ted Elliott and ‘Chernobyl’ creator Craig Mazin.
Margot Robbie is setting sail with help from her Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson.
Hodson has been tapped to write a new, female-fronted Pirates of the Caribbean for Disney, with Robbie attached to star.
While plot details are being kept in Davey Jones’ locker, the project, in early development, is not intended to be a spinoff of the long-running franchise that had pirate Jack Sparrow at its center, but rather a wholly original story with new characters under the Pirates moniker, itself inspired by the long-running attraction at Disneyland.
The new project is said to be separate from the already announced reboot of the popular franchise that has Pirates scribe Ted Elliott and Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin developing the story.
Longtime Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer is attached to produce both the Elliott/Mazin project and this new Robbie/Hodson project.
Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the most lucrative film franchises of all time, grossing over $4.5 billion across five feature films. But the Pirates franchise, fronted by Johnny Depp, has shown its age, with the fifth installment, 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales, coming in with the second-lowest box office of the series ($795 million, unadjusted worldwide) only ahead of original film Curse of the Black Pearl. The studio has been plotting ways to revive the brand with stories from new talent.
Hodson is one of Hollywood’s go-to blockbuster writers, with credits that include Transformers spinoff Bumblebee as well as DC superhero projects The Flash, which now has Michael Keaton reprising his famous role of Batman, and Batgirl.
Robbie’s recent features include Bombshell and Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood, and she will next be seen in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad sequel.
In addition to collaborating on Birds of Prey, Robbie and Hodson together in 2019 launched the Lucky Exports Pitch Program, a new initiative aimed at getting more female-identifying writers hired by studios to write action-centric movies.
Robbie is repped by CAA, Management 360, AMM and attorney Jeff Bernstein of Jackoway Austen. Hodson is repped by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham
