Johnny Depp will not be returning as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, despite a recent report that the actor was being offered a $301 million deal to do just that. Depp’s spokesperson, however, debunked the rumor, telling NBC News, “This is made up.”
Speculation began to swirl this week after a June 7 piece from an Australian news outlet went viral. In that report, a source said, “Disney are very interested in patching up their relationship with Johnny Depp.… They are very hopeful that Johnny will forgive them and return as his iconic character.” This reporting blatantly contradicted Depp’s own statement about returning to Pirates during his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. “If Disney came to you with $300 million and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a Pirates of the Caribbean film?” asked Heard’s defense attorney Ben Rottenborn during the trial. “That is true,” Depp replied.
Despite Depp’s denial, the Jack Sparrow mythos is very much alive amongst a group of impassioned fans. One petition requesting that Depp rejoin the Pirates universe has gathered more than 800,000 signatures, and the actor himself impersonated his character outside of the Virginia courthouse for onlookers. (Even the GOP’s House Judiciary bizarrely tweeted a GIF of Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean from its official account moments after the verdict was announced largely in his favor.)
Depp, who starred as Captain Jack Sparrow in all five previous Pirates films, testified that Disney dropped him from Pirates 6 amidst the abuse allegations from Heard. “Two years had gone by of constant worldwide talk about me being this wife beater,” Depp said in court, referring to Heard’s initial restraining order against him in 2016. “So I’m sure that Disney was trying to cut ties to be safe. The #MeToo movement was in full swing at that point.” In 2020, Depp exited the Fantastic Beasts franchise at the request of Warner Bros., although he still received his full salary for the third film.
Since the trial’s conclusion, there has been rampant speculation about what will happen to Depp’s and Heard’s careers. (Unverified reports regarding Heard’s role in the upcoming Aquaman sequel, which she testified had been “very pared down,” persist.) Earlier this month, an unnamed former Disney exec told People, “I absolutely believe post-verdict that Pirates is primed for rebooting with Johnny as Captain Jack back on board,” adding, “There is just too much potential box office treasure for a beloved character deeply embedded in the Disney culture.” Back in May, Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who is developing two new scripts for the franchise (one with Margot Robbie), told The Sunday Times that there were no plans to work with Depp. “Not at this point,” he said. “The future is yet to be decided.”
The Oscar nominee will retain his voice role as Johnny Puff in the web series Puffins Impossible and has been cast as King Louis XV in the French-language film Jeanne du Barry, which is set to begin shooting this summer. This marks Depp’s first feature role since 2020’s Minamata, the release of which was shelved for about a year. As for more splashy projects, Depp’s viability remains a question. “I don’t think he immediately goes back on the Harry Potter franchise or goes immediately back onto Pirates of the Caribbean,” a development executive who has worked on several Depp projects told Vanity Fair post-verdict. Still, “the jury and the public seem to be on his side, so it’s less controversial than many of these other celebrities who’ve been guilty of #MeToo accusations, because he did win the case largely.”