Pirates of the Caribbean Movies Will NOT Continue Without Johnny Depp

05/25/2017 04:42 pm EDT

The latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, is sailing into theaters on a wave of fan adoration - with a lot of that love being reserved for Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, the face of this blockbuster Disney franchise.

However, Pirates 5's story goes to great lengths to introduce some new main characters to the franchise (Brenton Thwaites' Henry Turner and Kaya Scodelario's Carina Smyth). With the introduction of those new characters, there's been some lingering question as to how the franchise plans to move forward into the next installments - as in, could Pirates move forward without Johnny Depp starring as Captain Jack?

In a recent interview with Digital Spy, super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer let it be known, in no uncertain terms, that Pirates of the Caribbean and Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow go hand-in-hand:

"I just don't see it [working on Pirates without Depp]. The secret to any successful franchise is picking talented people, and Johnny is absolutely key to the success of Pirates. He's such a unique character, such an endearing character, and such an irreverent character all in one."

MORE: Does Pirates of the Caribbean 5 Have a Post-Credits Scene?

The real question in all this is should the franchise continue without Captain Jack being the main character? There are a fair number of fans who thought Depp's Captain Jack schtick started to wear thin around the third film - and definitely so in the fourth. With early reviews largely giving praise to Thwaites and Scodelario's characters, and a few plot twists sending the franchise in a potential new direction, there is a case to be made for Depp stepping down from (or only playing a very minor role in) the franchise.

...Then again, with the Pirates franchise having amassed $3 billion dollars worldwide while having Depp on the marquee, there's no real rea$on to change up the formula now.

NEXT: Pirates of the Caribbean 5 Official Review

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will be in theaters on May 26, 2017. It is 2 hours 9 min and is Rated PG-13 for sequences of adventure violence, and some suggestive content.

The Film currently holds a not-so-great 3.23/5 ranking in our anticipation ratings. Be sure to rate it for yourself, HERE!

Photo Credit: Disney

Disclosure: PopCulture. is owned by Paramount. Sign up for Paramount+ by clicking here.