The actor told Entertainment Weekly he would consider returning to Pirates of the Caribbean, but only with writing strong enough to earn it. His pitch borrows from Hamlet. He has not been cast.
Geoffrey Rush has an idea for how Captain Hector Barbossa comes back, and it involves haunting Jack Sparrow.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the Academy Award winner said he would consider returning to Pirates of the Caribbean, with conditions. The writing has to be good. The story has to earn it. And Johnny Depp has to be there.
His preferred version is Barbossa turning up as a ghost for a few scenes with one job, which is irritating Jack Sparrow.
What did Geoffrey Rush say about returning as Barbossa?
That he does not want it to be cheap.
Rush pointed to how his character went out in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, saying “I sacrificed myself for my daughter.” He said he does not want a return that feels easy or like collecting another payday, and that he respects the scale of what the franchise built across two decades.
He also said enough time has passed that a return would not feel like backtracking.
Then he floated something no other legacy actor has suggested. Let the fans write in what they would want to see happen.
Why bring Barbossa back as a ghost?
Because the character has already used up his other exits, and Rush knows it.
Barbossa was killed in The Curse of the Black Pearl, brought back in Dead Man’s Chest, and died again, sacrificing himself in Dead Men Tell No Tales. Two deaths in five films.
A franchise with cursed Aztec gold, a sea goddess, and a crew of ghost sailors is not going to have trouble finding a mechanism. That is the problem, not the solution. When resurrection costs nothing, it means nothing.
So Rush reached for Shakespeare. His comparison is Hamlet, where the murdered king returns as a ghost to push the plot forward without rejoining the living. He has said before that he raised the idea directly with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and that it carries both dramatic and comic possibilities.
Which is a more thought-through pitch than most actors give when asked this question on a press tour.
Has Geoffrey Rush been cast in Pirates 6?
No.
Rush has not been cast. No Barbossa storyline has been announced. There is no production start date and no release date attached to any of this.
An actor saying he would be open to something under specific conditions is not a deal. It is an actor answering a question in an interview, which is a thing that happens on every press tour for every unrelated project.
What did Rush say about Johnny Depp?
That nobody replaces him.
Rush described Depp’s Jack Sparrow as the new Robert Newton, the British actor whose performance in the 1950 Treasure Island essentially invented the growling, rolling-R pirate voice every kid has done since.
That is a serious compliment from a serious actor. It also makes Rush’s condition clear. No Depp, no Barbossa.
Orlando Bloom told the same outlet he still connects with the cast and with Depp, and still gets asked about another film.
Where does Pirates 6 actually stand?
Bruckheimer confirmed at D23 that Depp is in talks to return as Jack Sparrow. He has also said the new film will not continue the storylines of the previous movies.
Those two statements are not impossible together, but they are awkward together. A reboot that does not continue prior storylines and also brings back Jack Sparrow and a ghost Barbossa is not obviously a reboot.
What changed in Rush’s answer
In 2024, Rush told Collider he did not want Barbossa back, pointing to the redemptive sacrifice as a reason to leave it alone. In early 2025, he floated the ghost idea as a joke that had clearly been sitting with him. Now, in 2026, he is naming conditions.
That is a man talking himself into it across three interviews and two years.
He still has not been asked. But he has now said, out loud and in print, exactly what it would take.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Entertainment Weekly (September 2026), the interview, Rush’s conditions, the ghost pitch and the Orlando Bloom comments
MovieWeb, reporting by George Edelman (February 2025), Rush’s earlier account of raising the Hamlet idea with Jerry Bruckheimer
Collider, reporting by Steve Weintraub (July 2024), Rush’s earlier position against a return
The Main Street Mouse (Sept. 15, 2026), the Robert Newton comparison and the Bruckheimer reboot framing
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