Pirates of the Caribbean 4 : On Stranger Tides: Disney Scrapping the Fourth Film?

Johnny Depp recently spoke in an interview with MTV News and admitted that there had been a "fissure", "a crack" in his enthusiasm to do Pirates of the Caribbean 4 after the sudden departure of his good friend Dick Cook, Studio Chief at Disney. This doesn't bode well for Pirates fans because they cannot envision the series continuing without Jack Sparrow (Depp) in Pirates of the Caribbean 4.

Not only has there been a fissure at the top of the Disney Studios with Dick Cook's disapearance, but the director of the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films, Gore Verbinski has made it official that he has taken on other projects and cannot return to direct Pirates of the Caribbean 4 : On Stranger Tides. So Disney has brought on a new director to take over the helm, Rob Marshall.

Johnny Depp admits he has not seen the script, has no idea now what his character will be doing in the next Pirates of the Caribbean film, and can't venture a guess as to what the story line of the fourth film will be. He has admitted that he would not mind putting on the suit and boots of Jack Sparrow again but still will not commit to the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film yet.

Johnny Depp also made fans a tad nervous when he gave stipulations for his return by stating, "If there is a script or a story outside of what we have done already, and it's worthy of the audiences attention, then I would definitely do it." Although, the actor has officially signed up for the fourth film there is nothing written in stone.

Fans are worried that this cautious tone from Johnny Depp and the lack of a clear direction from Disney is signaling either the end of the Pirates of the Caribbean series or the beginning of something that doesn't resemble the Pirates series at all.

The film will be undergoing many story line changes without any new developments because Orlando Bloom has stated he is not returning as Will Turner and Kiera Knightley has also stated she will not be returning to play her familiar role of Elizabeth Swann. It seemed that the only major player to return to the film series would have been Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow.

The original Pirates of the Caribbean won critical acclaim when it hit the theaters in 2003 and shocked it's own company, Walt Disney, by how successful the film was. Disney went on to quickly capitalize on the momentum by putting together the next two Pirates of the Caribbean movies and rushing them to theaters.

Eric Ditzian, Johnny Depp says he would 'Love to' return to Pirates of the Caribbean, MTV News