Johnny Depp last appeared in 2017’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
It’s been seven years since the release of the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean film, Dead Man Tell No Tales. While the initial trilogy was relatively well received, the fourth and fifth films solely forced the focus onto Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow. Despite both films bombing at the box office, franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer has remained positive about the future of the franchise. There’s been a lot of talks about where the ships will set sail next, including a film led by Barbie‘s Margot Robbie.
In 2018 Depp had a falling out with Disney following his very public divorce from his ex-wife Amber Heard. When The Sun newspaper published an article which referred to Depp as a “wife-beater,” he sued The Sun for libel, alleging that it impacted his reputation and career. While he lost the court case in the U.K., in 2022 Depp and Heard’s trial in Virginia largely ruled in the veteran actor’s favor, which was followed by a settlement from Heard. Since the ruling, Depp has kept a pretty low profile in Hollywood when it comes to accepting roles. Depp previously stated during his court testimony that he would turn down a return to the franchise, but a source close to Depp said he remains “open” to working with Disney again “if it’s the right project.”
In a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Bruckheimer reiterated that he “loves” having Depp, and if it were up to him he’d come back to Pirates. He also confirmed the two sides have had conversations. “If it was up to me, of course. I love having Depp. He’s a great actor and good friend… I’ve certainly spoken to him, but we’ll see what happens.”
Bruckheimer recently told Comicbook that it’s more likely that we’ll see the Pirates franchise back on the big screen before Top Gun as they are looking to completely reboot Pirates. “… But we’re gonna reboot Pirates, so that is easier to put together because you don’t have to wait for certain actors.”
Of course, Depp has been the franchise star since 2003’s Curse of the Black Pearl which earned over half a million dollars at the global box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing film that year. Three years later came Dead Man’s Chest which captured over $1 billion and At World’s End just a year later which earned just shy of $1 billion. While films four and five did relatively well at the box office they currently sit as the two lowest rated Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
