Did you know that Disney is reportedly planning on making a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie
starring Margot Robbie? So… does that mean Johnny Depp, fresh off his trial win against ex-wife
Amber Heard, will make a cameo as Captain Jack Sparrow? Keep watching to find out.
The defamation lawsuit Johnny Depp brought against ex-wife Amber Heard ended with the Fairfax County,
Virginia, jury ruling in Depp's favor on all three charges. Depp, in turn, was found to
have defamed Heard on one of the three claims she brought against her ex-husband in a countersuit,
with $15 million awarded in damages to Depp and $2 million awarded to Heard at the end of the trial,
although the actual financial numbers are a bit trickier.
Throughout the trial and its aftermath, public opinion swayed significantly toward Depp's side,
even despite Heard's own testimonies, presented evidence, and the fact that a British court
ruled in 2020 that Depp had physically abused Heard on a number of occasions.
Heard plans to appeal the lawsuit's verdict, so the public may not be rid of the much-publicized
case yet. For now, speculation runs rampant about the future of both Depp's and Heard's acting
careers after the trial, but one anonymous former Disney executive made a bold prediction for Depp
and the future of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series he helped make a massive hit.
"You are, without doubt, the worst pirate I've ever heard of."
"But you have heard of me."
People recently reported that an anonymous former Disney executive thinks the company
could conceivably ask Johnny Depp to return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise in the
wake of his defamation trial against Amber Heard. The former executive, whom People did not name,
said that there is too much box office potential for a fan-favorite character like Jack Sparrow
not to return to a blockbuster franchise. The former executive told People:
"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."
Bringing Depp back as Jack Sparrow surely would bring significant attention back to the Pirates
franchise, which has not released a film since the fifth installment, Dead Men Tell No Tales,
in 2017. According to Box Office Mojo, the movies are the 16th-highest-grossing
film franchise ever in the U.S. and Canada, having collectively made over $1.45 billion.
Bruckheimer recently told the Times that two scripts for future Pirates movies are
being written — one as a spin-off starring Margot Robbie and another without Robbie's involvement.
Bruckheimer also said that Depp was not expected to return for now but
noted that the future has not been decided yet.
Reports of a future Pirates of the Caribbean movie featuring Margot Robbie date back to 2020,
when The Hollywood Reporter wrote that a Robbie-starring film would serve as
a completely original story using the franchise's title. Even then,
THR reported that the project would be separate from the next entry in the main series.
A second anonymous Hollywood source, who has worked on past Pirates movies,
told People that they would expect Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney to make Robbie's character
Jack Sparrow's daughter and include Johnny Depp in a cameo appearance to show to test audiences.
There is one snag to those theories. Although Depp claimed that he had wanted to keep playing
Jack Sparrow through the end of the Pirates franchise, he testified during the defamation
trial that nothing would convince him to work with Disney on future projects.
"Nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a 'Pirates of
the Caribbean' film. Correct?" "That is true Mr. Rottenborn."
While that testimony does not legally prevent Depp from choosing to return to the franchise,
it is slightly unclear whether Disney — or
other major Hollywood studios — will show interest in bringing Depp on.
The actor's former agent, Tracey Jacobs, testified that it grew harder to work with
Depp in the late 2000s and 2010s since he had gained a reputation for consistently showing up
late to the set of almost every movie he made. A third anonymous source told People that they
don't quite believe Depp would turn down a major paycheck from Disney to return as Jack Sparrow
given the well-publicized financial troubles that dogged Depp in the 2010s.
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