'Pirates of the Caribbean 5' Abandons Summer 2015, Shifts to 2016 to Make Sure the 'Script Is Right'

With almost every sequel and reboot possible crammed into the 2015 movie calendar, it's no surprise that studios have started reevaluating their scheduling choices. We saw Marvel make a big move Monday, pulling Ant-Man out of a possibly deadly November matchup with the sequel to Skyfall. Marvel parent Disney made another move on Tuesday, yanking Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales from July 2015. The studio hasn't announced a new date yet, but it looks like 2016 is the new target for the next Jack Sparrow adventure. According to Deadline, this move wasn't due to problems with the sequel, but instead to spend the necessary time getting the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie right.

Basically, the studio and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have an advanced outline from scribe Jeff Nathanson, who is writing. They have directors Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg, who did a great job with a modest budget on Kon-Tiki, but who are new to the big scale of a film like Pirates. The studio would have to get into production by February, which would mean prepping off the outline. 

The decision was made that it wasn’t worth rushing until they are sure the script is right. Why not take the time to do a proper job with one of Disney’s most important tentpoles? The first four films grossed $3.7 billion, and the last installment, On Stranger Tides, crossed the $1 billion mark. Disney has plenty for summer 2015 anyway. There is a sequel to The Avengers and the first of the next three installments of the Star Wars franchise, directed by JJ Abrams. There is also the Marvel pic Ant-Man, and Inside Out from Pixar.

If Disney can push pause on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales in order to give us a better movie than Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, that would be a great improvement. The studio doesn't have to worry about the movie suffering at the box office — the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are instant $1 billion moneymakers.