Disney has abandoned plans for a new Pirates of the Caribbean film featuring a female lead, according to Margot Robbie.

The actress had been set to star in the reboot of the hit franchise, which was to be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Christina Hodson, the scribe behind Birds of Prey.

The new film was intended to be an original story with brand new characters, and was in development for a number of years.

However, Robbie has now revealed that the project has been scrapped.

“We had an idea and we were developing it for a while, ages ago, to have more of a female-led – not totally female-led – but just a different kind of story, which we thought would’ve been really cool,” Robbie told Vanity Fair.

“But I guess they don’t want to do it,” she added, referring to Disney.

Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the most successful film franchises of all time, having grossed over $4.5bn (£3.6bn) across five films.

A sequel to the original franchise is also in the works, though it will not feature Johnny Depp, who played the iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the previous films.

The possibility of Depp returning to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise was discussed during a defamation trial between the actor and his ex-wife Amber Heard in June 2022.

Depp was asked: “If Disney came to you with $300m dollars and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a Pirates of the Caribbean film?” Depp responded, “That is true.”

Robbie’s most recent project was the critically panned Amsterdam, directed by David O Russell.

The actress is set to appear in Babylon, a new film from Whiplash and La La Land director Damien Chazelle, which received negative reviews after its first screening and has been described as “a flaming hot mess.”