The ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star had been with his agent since ’21 Jump Street.’
In a move that will shock the agency world, Johnny Depp has left UTA, where he has been a client since 1998, and joined rival CAA.
The international star, who has three Oscar nominations and whose films have generated more than $7 billion at the worldwide box office, has suffered through a streak of disappointments, including Transcendence, Mordecai and the May flop Alice Through the Looking Glass.
Depp, 53, also recently settled a high-profile and contentious divorce with actress Amber Heard.
Despite his recent struggles, the actor has been one of the most bankable stars of the past 15 years and a respected character actor since getting his start on TV’s 21 Jump Street and melting hearts in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands.
Depp has played outsiders and misfits in movies such as Ed Wood, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which began with 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, cementing him in the minds of millions as Captain Jack Sparrow.
In addition to four Pirates movies (with a fifth on the way), his tentpole hits have included Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Depp’s longtime lead agent Tracey Jacobs signed the actor when he was on 21 Jump Street and has guided his career for more than 25 years (they joined UTA together in 1998). But on the heels of Alice Through the Looking Glass, which made just $299 million at the global box office and only $77 million domestically after the first Alice film grossed $1 billion, it seems Depp was ready to rethink his next career moves.
Before making the jump to CAA, the actor signed on last month for a supporting role in Fox’s all-star ensemble adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. (He remains attached to star in Universal’s update of The Invisible Man as well as Labyrinth, a crime drama exploring the murder of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.)
Depp, who stars as Sparrow once again in next summer’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, is managed by his sister, Christi Dembrowski, and repped by longtime attorney Jake Bloom at Bloom Hergott.
