'Pirates 5' Is The Start Of A Huge Finale

When I was in high school, my weekends consisted of marathoning Pirates of the Caribbean movies whether everyone else in the room wanted to watch them or not. It was just a thing we did for fun, while we ate pizza and gossiped about how our teachers were ruining our lives. Fast forward to my near-30s, and people are still going crazy over Pirates. The newest movie in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean Men Tell No Tales, is set to open May 26 and there will likely be many more to come, as I don't see people getting tired of Jack Sparrow anytime soon. But just how many Pirates movies will there be?

As you might recall, the film series started in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, fueling a new Disney franchise. So far, we've gotten our fix of Captain Jack Sparrow four times, with this new movie being the fifth in the series. Recently, Johnny Depp went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and joked about how much longer he'll play Jack Sparrow. When DeGeneres mentioned that rumors were floating around about there being at least four more movies planned, Depp responded,

"Are we doing this until I'm 150? I'll be doing it at your local fast food restaurant, just outside."

Even with Depp's joking attitude, that sounds like there'll be plenty more Pirates movies to come. Yet in the first official trailer for Dead Men Tell No Tales, there's a declaration between shots at the 1:51 mark that says, “The final adventure begins”, which makes it seem like Sparrow is finally hanging his scallywag cap for good.

In an interview with CinemaBlend, director Joachim Rønning responded to the question of whether the fifth film is actually the conclusion to the long running series, or if the journey for Sparrow and the others will continue.

It's difficult to ever know. I think that there's always... this is the beginning of the finale. [laughs] It depends on how you look at it. But I never take anything for granted, and I love the franchise. These kinds of movies, they remind me of the kind of movies I grew up with, those kind of adventure movies that made me want to become a filmmaker. So for me to be able to be a part of this and direct a Pirates of the Caribbean is a dream come true. But I don't know if it's the last one, or if they'll make another 10 of them — I don't know! But I hope so!

So while for now, there might be nothing set in stone for a sequel, the potential success of Dead Men Tell No Tales may be the spark for the director to make more installments of the popular series. Fans will have to just wait and see how the new movie does when it hits theaters.