Credit: DisneyJohnny Depp seems determined not to give fans what they want and return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise as Captain Jack Sparrow. Instead, he is doing what nobody asked for and returning to directing.
In recent years, Johnny Depp hit a number of huge career downturns. Pirates of the Caribbean, the Disney franchise that transformed him from an indie darling to a global mega-star, began to see diminishing box office returns.
His private life became a huge subject of cultural conversation, with everything from his (reportedly) five-digit a-month wine bill and his acrimonious divorce from Amber Heard and the subsequent defamation trial basically blacklisting him from Hollywood.
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However, in recent months, things have seemed to be trending upward for Johnny Depp. He has been touring with his supergroup Hollywood Vampires (albeit with some concerning injuries), and his most recent movie, Jeanne du Barry, saw him get some of his best reviews in years after it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Johnny Depp, ‘Pirates,’ and Captain Jack Sparrow
Before the domestic abuse allegations, the Amber Heard defamation trial, and the subsequent fallout of both, Johnny Depp was a major part of two huge Hollywood franchises.
Depp has already been replaced by Mads Mikkelsen in Warner Bros Discovery’s ailing Fantastic Beasts series, but Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has struggled to continue without Captain Jack Sparrow.
There have been numerous rumored attempts to reboot the Pirates franchise without Depp, with huge stars like Margot Robbie and Dwayne Johnson supposedly finalists to try to take over.
However, none of them have come to fruition. Since Disney is increasingly in need of a guaranteed hit (what with the diminishing box office returns of Pixar and Marvel Studios), it seems likely that the House of Mouse wants Johnny Depp back in Pirates just as much as the fans.
Johnny Depp, Sophomore Director
Instead of rejoining the Disney fold for whatever form of reboot that Pirates of the Caribbean eventually takes, Johnny Depp is instead directing a new movie.
Modì began shooting in Italy and Hungary (per Variety) recently, with Johnny Depp helming his first film since the little-seen The Brave (1997). The movie will star Riccardo Scamarcio, Luisa Ranieri, Antonia Desplat, Stephen Graham, Bruno Gouery, Ryan McParland, Benjamin Lavernhe, Sally Phillips, and Al Pacino, who Depp worked with in the more acclaimed 1997 film Donnie Brasco.
Depp’s second directorial movie is a biopic of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, based on a play of the same name by Dennis McIntyre (adapted by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski). Reportedly, the movie will take place over 48 hours in Paris during World War I.
Related: Disney Could Replace Johnny Depp with Original Jack Sparrow
The Future of Jack Sparrow and Disney
Given that Johnny Depp seems more inclined to star in and/or direct European arthouse movies like Jeanne du Barry and Modì, it does not seem likely that he is all that interested in returning for Pirates of the Caribbean. Disney might have to work harder on that reboot.
Do you think Johnny Depp will ever return as Captain Jack Sparrow? Is the Pirates franchise dead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!