The Walt Disney Co and Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, have decided to end their longtime partnership.
The deal, which reportedly gives Disney first-look rights to Bruckheimer’s films, will not be renewed next year after it expires. The deal has lasted for over 20 years, and Bruckheimer has produced 27 films with Disney since the deal was first struck.
Though their deal is ending, Bruckheimer and Disney will still continue to work together on films in the future, such as the upcoming fifth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Last week, Disney announced that the new Pirates film’s release date has been pushed back a year.
Bruckheimer still seems optimistic about his future relationship with Disney.
"It's time for us to tackle all kinds of movies, not just Disney movies," Bruckheimer told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview. "We're still working on Pirates and hopefully National Treasure, and we still have development at Disney."
Even in the wake of this summer's flop The Lone Ranger, on which Disney lost an estimated $190 million, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn said that Disney and Bruckheimer "have had an incredibly successful collaboration over the past two decades", according to the Toronto Sun. One of these great successes that Bruckheimer had with Disney was the Pirates franchise, which made more than $3.7 billion at worldwide box offices.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
