Margot Robbie to play lead in new female-fronted 'Pirates of the Caribbean' film

Margot Robbie is going to play the lead role in the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" film for Disney. This is an attempt by Hollywood to re-imagine classic movies by casting women in the lead roles.

This includes the reboot of "Ghostbusters" in 2016 that starred Melissa McCarthy and "Ocean's 8," a comedy film in 2018 that starred Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett.

Along with the 29-year-old actress, Christina Hodson is coming on board to write the script for the new female-fronted film. Hodson is the screenwriter on Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn movie "Birds of Prey." It will not be a formal spin-off of the Disney franchise, but a separate original story with new characters, according to Hollywood Reporter. This is Disney's new untitled project which is stillin early development.

Anothernew film is a "Pirates of the Caribbean" reboot that was unveiled in October. It has the likes of franchise veteran Ted Elliott and Craig Mazin, "Chernobyl" creator to develop a story. It will be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced all five previous "Pirates" films. He is attached to produce both the Elliot/Mazin and the Robbie/Hodson projects.

All the previous "Pirates" films starred Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. The films grossed $1.5 billion domestically and $3.07 billion internationally, with the North American market giving a smaller share. All five films have grossed more than $650 million worldwide, with "Dead Man's Chest" and "On Stranger Tides" both topping the $1 billion mark.

This year Robbie received an Oscar nomination for "Bombshell" and also her portrayal of Sharon Tate in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." She will reprise her Harley Quinn character in James Gunn's upcoming "Suicide Squad" sequel.

Robbie is represented by CAA, Management 360, AMM, and attorney Jeff Bernstein of Jackoway Austen, while Hodson is represented by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham.