It's one of the biggest film franchises in the world – and isn't even that old – but Pirates of the Caribbean has been confirmed for a reboot by its original conceiver.
Speaking to DailyMailTV, The Curse of the Black Pearl's screenwriter Stuart Beattie responded to reboot rumours by admitting that it was "an honour" the series was getting a do-over.
As well as confirming that he would "not" be working on any new films, Stuart said there were no hard feelings about Disney's apparent re-imagining of the swashbuckling tales.
"There's that saying, 'Don't frown because it's over, smile because it happened'," he said. "The fact that they're rebooting something that you did means that you did something that was worth rebooting. It's an honour to be rebooted."
Related: Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge review – Come back, it's good!
But that's not all – it seems Johnny Depp is also officially out of any new Pirates project, with Stuart calling the actor's 16-year stint as Captain Jack Sparrow "a great run".
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"I think he's had a great run. Obviously he's made that character his own and it's become the thing that he's most famous for now," he said. "It's been great for him and it's been great for us."
Digital Spy has reached out to Disney and Johnny Depp's reps for comment.
Rumours that Pirates would be taking on a new direction began swirling earlier this week, when it was reported that Disney had lined up Deadpool's writers to work on a brand new concept.
We're all aboard – but only if Ryan Reynolds is, too.
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