Credit: DisneyThe Pirates of the Caribbean films will never be the same again after Disney removed Johnny Depp from his beloved Captain Jack Sparrow.
20 years ago, Johnny Depp blasted onto screens as Captain Jack Sparrow in the first of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). The huge blockbuster was followed by four more movies, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). The movies also starred Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann, Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa, and Bill Nighy as Davy Jones.
But Depp’s time with the character would come to an abrupt end following the fifth entry after a string of controversial lawsuits erupted between him and his ex-wife, Amber Heard (The Rum Diary, Aquaman).
The libel lawsuit at London’s High Court came about after Depp sued British publication The Sun and its parent News Group Newspapers LTD, for calling him a “wife-beater.” Launched in 2018, the suit didn’t hit the courtroom until 2020, when the highly-publicized trial saw Depp lose the case and his subsequent appeal request. Following testimonies from both Depp and Heard, among others, Justice Andrew Nicol found many of the claims of domestic abuse “substantially true.”
The outcome in the United Kingdom left Depp cast out of his role as Gellert Grindelwald in Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts franchise. The part of the dark wizard ended up going to Mads Mikkelsen for the third installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).
Justice Nicol’s ruling also saw Depp no longer a part of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. The immense success of the five-movie franchise can be partly attributed to Depp’s Jack Sparrow character, a character that has become one of the most beloved in cinematic history.
Rumors swirled that Depp’s jaunty pirate captain would be replaced by a new actor, with Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Margot Robbie (The Suicide Squad) amongst those mentioned. For the latter, a new project seemed to be underway for quite some time — that was until Robbie announced the movie had been dropped. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer clarified shortly after that the spinoff film was shelved for now while the team focused on Pirates of the Caribbean 6.
And while a lot of these updates were coming to the fore, Depp and Heard were locked in their second high-profile court case.
Following the release of Heard’s Op-Ed penned for The Washington Post in 2018, Depp launched a $50 million defamation suit against his ex-wife. Heard countersued for $100 million. In a six-week trial presided over by Judge Penney Azcarate, the jury found Heard had defamed Depp on all three counts. They awarded him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, which were lowered to $350,000 in line with Virginia state law. The jury also found that Depp had defamed Heard on one count through his former lawyer, Adam Waldman, awarding her $2 million in compensatory damages.
Related: Disney’s New “‘Pirates of the Caribbean’” Franchise Scrapped, Report Says
Despite being ousted from Hollywood, Depp’s fans have stayed loyal to the actor, with #JusticeForJohnnyDepp often trending online. But that hasn’t seen him land in favor with any big movie studios following the outcome in Virginia. In fact, during that trial, Depp was asked if he would return to Disney for $300 million, to which the actor said he wouldn’t.
That now seems to have changed as sources close to Depp have said the star would consider it project depending. This also lines up with Bruckheimer’s comments earlier this year, when he said that work is being done on the screenplay for the sixth film and that he would love to work again with Johnny Depp.
But, this isn’t the first time Depp has feuded with the House of Mouse.
Years ago, Depp told GQ that Disney “hated him.” “Disney hated me. [They were] thinking of every way they could to get rid of me, to fire me. ‘Oh, we’re going to have to subtitle him.’ ‘We don’t understand Captain Jack Sparrow. What’s wrong with him?’ ‘What’s wrong with his arms?’ ‘Is he drunk?’ ‘Is he mentally f****** stupefied?’ ‘Is he gay?’”
But more than the company’s lack of understanding over his eventual Academy Award-nominated role, Depp also clashed on storylines within the Pirates of the Caribbean films. In another 2018 interview, this time with Rolling Stone, it was noted how Depp is “protective of [Jack Sparrow] and claims he battled with Disney screenwriters repeatedly.”
“Why must you have these f****** heinous subplots?” asks Depp in the interview regarding the Disney screenwriters. “It’s convoluted. There is not a f****** soul that wants to see Captain Jack Sparrow sad.”
The series has grossed over $4.5 billion, and even though director Rob Marshall’s On Stranger Tides was — at one point — the most expensive movie ever made, Depp wanted the fourth movie to be a departure from what had come before in Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End. He told Entertainment Weekly that he spoke to director Gore Verbinski during the production of the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films and admittedly did not know what the plot was trying to do. Verbinski agreed that he also did not understand it but encouraged the star to shoot it regardless.
Depp and Disney are uniquely linked because of the sheer popularity of Captain Jack Sparrow. While he was always a recognizable name thanks to his work with Tim Burton and movies such as Donnie Brasco (1997) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), the Pirates of the Caribbean films catapulted him into superstardom and still, to this day, is his most commercial role to date.
Related: Margot Robbie Sends Message as Disney Plots ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Reboot
So, in spite of the controversies of late, Depp seemingly has more to consider if Disney does want him to come back for a sixth Pirates movie.
Do you think Depp will eventually return to the Pirates of the Caribbean films? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!