What's The Word - 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Producer Jerry Bruckheimer parts with Disney

As the successful Hollywood producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, known for the 'Pirates' franchise, Black Hawk Down, Top Gun, Bad Boys, The Rock and many other blockbusters, celebrates his 70th Birthday today, it was recently reported that he has not renewed his deal with Disney, marking the end of an era. 

To many, this will come as a surprise since he is known for producing big-budget films that often prove successful at the box office. However, while there is no evidence to suggest that this is the reason, his latest films with Disney in recent years have not been big hitters at the box office, with one or two flops. Most notable, and most recent, is Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, made just under $245 million worldwide with a budget of around $225 million (some reports vary). Regardless, the result was a bit of a blow for Disney, follow the also financially disappointing John Carter that they were also behind. Other recent disappointments for Bruckheimer include The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

That said, the man has had massive success with some of the aforementioned films and is behind CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. And while this does mean he is almost parting ways with Disney, he will still continue to work with them for the next instalments in the Pirates of the Caribbean and National Treasure franchise. What's interesting to note is that while the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, had its budget severely reduced to around $150-250 million, which isn't so much in Hollywood but when you compare it to third that had a budget of $300 million, the film still managed to gross over $1 billion. When you then had it in with the previous three, you're talking about a lot of money. 

As he moves away from Disney, there is talk of sequels to Top Gun despite the death of director Tony Scott when the idea was discarded, a third Bad Boys and another Beverley Hills Cop. Whatever happens, I have enjoyed and admired his work, from the entertaining San Francisco car chase between Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery in The Rock, to the gritty and intense action of Black Hawk Down, I look forward to seeing what comes next. 

Source: http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/end-of-an-era-disney-and-jerry-bruckheimer-part-ways-1200652789/