Actor Johnny Depp officially rejected a part in an iconic film franchise worth $1.4 billion.
It has been almost two years since Johnny Depp and Amber Heard faced each other in the Virginia courtroom. The previously married pair were part of a highly-publicized defamation lawsuit after Depp sued his former wife for $50 million. Heard countersued for $100 million, and after six weeks in front of Judge Penney Azcarate, the jury found both had defamed each other but awarded Depp more in compensation.
Fast forward to 2024, Depp is directing his second feature film, Modi (TBD), starring Al Pacino, while Heard was recently featured in In the Fire (2023) and the final DC Extended Universe movie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023). Depp will return to movie theaters in the United States later this year with his 2023 movie, Jeanne du Barry. The movie originally opened at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
With both the 2020 libel trial (which Depp lost) and the defamation case stretching further into the past, rumors have continued to ramp up regarding Depp’s role in his beloved Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The Walt Disney Company’s swashbuckling saga is one of its most commercial and powerful properties, thanks mostly to Depp’s portrayal of the rogueish pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow.
After starring in the previous five Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the frequent Tim Burton collaborator was exiled from the franchise following his loss at the London High Court libel trial. However, fans of Depp’s have remained steadfast in their support of the Hollywood star, and even after losing the case in 2020, the actor’s popularity did not really wane.
As conversations about Pirates of the Caribbean 6 ramp up, Depp may possibly be back as Jack Sparrow, with the latest being that Disney was eyeing him for a supporting role. Depp’s role in Pirates of the Caribbean may not have happened at all, though, if the actor had said yes to another franchise he rejected. That franchise began with Ocean’s Eleven (2001).
Star of Ocean’s Eleven and its sequels Ocean’s Twelve (2004) and Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), George Clooney spoke about the other actors who were approached to star in the film. “Some very famous people told us to f*** right off,” Clooney said at TCM Classic Film Festival (via Far Out Magazine). “Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp. There were others. They regret it now. I regret doing f****** Batman.”
The Ocean’s trilogy was later joined by an all-female spinoff titled Ocean’s 8 (2018), directed by Gary Ross. The four heist films have amassed $1.4 billion at the global box office. Like The Matrix franchise, if Depp had taken up the role in Ocean’s Eleven, fans may have never seen him as Jack Sparrow. The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise began in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, meaning a clash in schedule could have hindered production.
The future of Pirates of the Caribbean is uncertain. As conflicting reports circulate, it seems that it is only a matter of time before Disney announces what is happening with the series. The latest casting rumor suggested that The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri would be the new lead in the franchise, playing a character called Anne, while Depp is reportedly being eyed for a supporting role. Depp said during the defamation trial that he would not return to Disney for $300 million, so only time will tell if he will step back onto the decks…
