'Pirates Of The Caribbean 5' Production Delayed Due To Johnny Depp Injury; Latest Unlucky Setback For Australian Set

The set of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” has been one of the most unlucky places to work in the world. After a bevy of strange delays, the crew has been told that production is on hold until Johnny Depp can recover from a hand injury.

It was previously reported that the 51-year-old actor hurt his hand at the beginning of the month while in Australia filming the fifth installment in the popular pirate franchise. Although he wasn’t working at the time, production was put on, what was expected to be, a minimal delay while he flew from the Gold Coast set back to the U.S. for surgery. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the Jack Sparrow actor learned that he needed a pin inserted in his finger in order to help him recover properly, which turned a two-week delay into a four-week delay.

According to E! Online around 200 crewmembers were informed that they will not be working for roughly the next two weeks, depending on when Depp’s hand recovers and he’s able to return to the set. Apparently, the filmmakers have filmed everything that they can without Depp, but they’ve reached a point where they really need the film’s star to be there in order to move forward.

The film, which stars Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin R. McNally, Stephen Graham, Javier Bardem, Golshifteh Farahani, Kaya Scoodelario and Brenton Thwaites, has had a rough time filming over the past few months. First, it suffered through Tropical cyclone Nathan, which temporarily shut down production shortly after it began in February. More recently, a security guard was attacked when a man dressed as a pirate snuck onto the set brandishing a knife.

Despite all the set backs and production being on an indefinite hold, the studio has not changed the July 7, 2017 release date of the film. There are just 14 more weeks of shooting scheduled for “Dead Men Tell No Tales.” Hopefully that’s enough time to issue every crewmember a rabbit’s foot.