Now that Johnny Depp has landed a huge victory in the defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, there has been major discussions about what his next career move will be. According to a former Walt Disney Studios executive, this would be the perfect opportunity for Depp to make a grand return to the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise as Captain Jack Sparrow.
“I absolutely believe post-verdict that Pirates is primed for rebooting with Johnny as Capt. Jack back on board. There is just too much potential box-office treasure for a beloved character deeply embedded in the Disney culture,” the former Disney exec predicted.
There Is A ‘Huge Appetite’ For Johnny Depp To Return To Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise, Says Former Disney Exec
“With (producer) Jerry Bruckheimer riding high on the massive success of Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, there is huge appetite for bringing back bankable Hollywood stars in massively popular franchises.” Depp revealed in his testimony that he wished to give the Jack Sparrow character a “proper goodbye” and that he hoped to keep making ‘Pirates’ movies “until it was time to stop”.
Both Disney and Warner Bros’ tried to distance themselves from Johnny Depp after Amber Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse came to light. There has been buzz about ‘Pirates 6’ being revamped with actress Margot Robie in the lead role, while Depp was dropped altogether from the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ franchise. But now that Depp has proven his innocence and has unmasked Amber Heard for who she really is, the demand for Depp is more thunderous than ever.
Johnny Depp received high praise for his work on the ‘Pirates’ movies, having earned an Oscar nomination for the first film in 2003 and subsequent box-office success with each of the sequels. Depp’s agent attests that the actor lost a staggering $22.5 million worth of income to do a sixth ‘Pirates’ film due to the bogus claims Amber Heard made in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed. Reclaiming the role of Jack Sparrow would be almost like poetic justice for Depp, but many wonder if he would even be willing to work with Disney again after they once seemingly shunned him.
A ‘Hollywood insider’ believes that it’s “not very likely” we’ll see Depp “come back as a star” but thinks that Disney would “probably make Pirates 6 with Margot Robbie or someone similar”. The source suggests, “I would think they make Robbie his daughter and likely have a cameo with him as a test.” Producer Jerry Bruckheimer recently revealed that they are currently “developing two Pirates scripts — one with her, one without.”
A separate source thinks that regardless of whether or not Depp comes back for ‘Pirates 6’ he will revive his career one way or another. “I do feel someone will give him a chance. He is very likable and very talented. A studio will just have to gauge and see it worth the risk and value, but he also won public opinion. He gained a whole new fan base through this and, yes, he will be back,” they said.
