Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Image Source: NY Post
Johnny Depp is not returning as Captain Jack Sparrow ever!
According to an Australian outlet, Poptopic, Johnny Depp, who is known for his popular character portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow, had alleged that the actor was in talks with Disney for a $301 million deal to reprise his role in the sixth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The reports suggested that the deal is reportedly for Johnny Depp to return as Jack Sparrow and that Disney is very interested in patching up their relationship with Johnny Depp.
Poptonic alleged that the authorities at Disney reached out to Johnny Depp before his six-week-long defamation trial against Amber Heard at Fairfax County Court, Virginia and asked him whether he would be interested in returning to the franchise or not but they are hopeful that Johnny Depp would forgive them and return for his iconic character. According to some sources, they have apologized to the actor for removing him from the sixth installment of the film.
Johnny Depp is not in talks with Disney to reprise his role. Image Source: Marca
The actor's agent has denied all the rumors, clarified that he is not in negotiations with Disney for the same, and denied reports that Johnny Depp was offered $300 million to return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise four years after he was fired from the film after Amber Heard made her alleged domestic abuse allegations against him public in an op-ed.
Lindsey Boylan wrote that the entire story of Johnny Depp receiving or being offered $300 million to return to the Pirates franchise is made up and his representatives have confirmed it publicly. She added that if you ever wondered about the power of untruthful gossip, here is a great example.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer was asked last month during his interview with The Sunday Times whether there was a chance of Johnny Depp returning to the franchise, to which he said that there was no such plan as of now, but the future is yet to be decided. Jerry also confirmed that the franchise is in talks with Margot Robbie where they are developing two scripts, one with her and one without her.
During the six-week-long defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, the actor famously talked about his falling out with Disney amid his public legal battle and being dropped as Captain Jack Sparrow soon after Amber Heard wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post describing herself as a survivor of domestic abuse and violence. Although she did not name the actor in her essay, the public could easily make out that she was talking about Johnny Depp since she had obtained a restraining order against him in 2016.
During Johnny Depp’s cross-examination during the trial, Amber Heard’s lawyer, Ben Rottenborn, confronted the actor with a statement that Johnny Depp had made to the press. Ben asked Johnny Depp referring to his previous interview, that nothing in the world would convince him to return and collaborate with Disney on Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and added that even if the studio approached him with a $300 million deal and a million alpacas and Johnny Depp said that it's true, he would not reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow ever. When pressed further by his attorney Camille Vasquez, Johnny Depp clarified that Disney decided to fire him after Amber Heard's allegations went public, even though none of the claims at the time had been proven true.
He also said that he felt betrayed by Disney and made the remark as a result of his perception that the company had shunned him. He said that he was confused that how after that lengthy association and such a successful relationship with Disney just thought or believed that he was guilty until proven innocent. Johnny added that he had inserted much of himself, much of his rewriting, the language, the situations, and the comedy for the movie, and the studios just dropped him. (It has not been established on why actually the studio fired him but according to testimonies heard in court, it was easily made out that because of the op-ed he was dropped from the movie)
The verdict of the defamation trial was announced on June 1, 2022, in which the jury rendered the verdict in Johnny Depp's favor after 14 hours of deliberation. The verdict was sealed on Friday. Johnny Depp received $10 million in compensatory damages in addition to $5 million in punitive damages from the jury. Due to Virginia's statutory cap, the punitive fines were reduced to $350,000. Rather than receiving punitive penalties, Amber Heard received compensatory damages worth $2 million. She stated that she is preparing to appeal the judgment, and on Friday it was revealed that she has 21 days to do so. However, if she decides to appeal, she must post a bond with the court.
Johnny Depp is slowly getting back to work following the trial and has recently announced that he is going on tour with his band "Hollywood Vampires" along with releasing a new studio album with guitarist Jeff Beck titled "18" with 13 tracks. The album is set to be released on July 15th and is currently appearing as a guest on Jeff Beck’s European tour and, in a statement, said that it's an extraordinary honor to play and write music with Jeff. Johnny Depp added that Jeff Beck is one of the true greats and someone he is privileged enough to call his brother.
