Keira Knightley won't be making a return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise any time soon, after responding to rumours that have circulated in light of Jerry Bruckheimer's recent comments about bringing back the saga.

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Talking on the red carpet of her new film Boston Strangler this week to Entertainment Tonight, Knightley repeated the phrase "What about Elizabeth Swan?" and said: "I mean, she sailed away so nicely. She sailed away in brilliant style."

The franchise's first film celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and when asked to recall any memories of the initial release, Knightley said that she doesn't remember "very much".

"It sort of launched me out of a rocket, really, as far as my career went," she said. "That year was Bend It Like Beckham, Love Actually and Pirates of the Caribbean."

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann and Orlando Bloom as Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Disney

She continued: "So, I'm being asked about all three. Unfortunately, I was 16 and 17. so I don't really remember very much of it, but yes, it certainly was a very big year for me."

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The Hollywood star seems content to let her character Elizabeth Swann go, but the opposite is true for Pirates of the Caribbean producer Bruckheimer. Speaking at last week's Academy Awards, he revealed: "We’re all working on it [the next Pirates film]. We’ll see how it comes out. We’re very excited, I think we’re gonna have a great screenplay when, and we’re getting close."

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As for whether Johnny Depp would be returning, Bruckheimer said: "We’ll see. I would love it. I would love to have him in the movie – that’s all that I can tell you."

It remains to be seen whether the news of Knightley's lack of interest in returning to the film franchise will prompt similar news from Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, especially given the pair's on-screen love story.

Boston Strangler
Keira Knightley as Loretta McLaughlin and Carrie Coon as Jean Cole in Boston Strangler. Disney

As for Knightley's new Disney Plus film, it's set to be an intriguing true crime journey and one that writer and director Matt Ruskin said was a dream to cast.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, he said that Knightley was the "dream person" to play the lead role of Loretta, with similar sentiments being expressed about her co-star Carrie Coon, who plays Jean.
He explained: "[Knightley] just possesses all the qualities of this character and I think she also identified personally with a woman trying to balance career and family.
"So she responded to the script and Carrie Coon similarly is just such an extraordinary talent and really has so many qualities that Jean Cole had – she's razor sharp and funny and scrappy.

"So it was dream casting for those two roles, and they're so talented and so committed. And it was just a real privilege to get to work with them."

Boston Strangler will be released on Disney Plus on Friday 17th March 2023. You can sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 for a year now.

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