A producer of Pirates of the Caribbean has stated that he would “love” to see Johnny Depp return for the franchise’s sixth installment.
Depp has long been associated with the movies as Captain Jack Sparrow, the main character, and his legal issues with ex-wife Amber Heard have received much attention since their trial last summer.
Now, one of the movie’s producers, Jerry Bruckheimer, has hinted that Depp might play the part again in a future Pirates film.
On the Oscars red carpet on Sunday, Bruckheimer discussed the movie and said to Entertainment Tonight: “We’re all working on it [the next Pirates film]. We’ll see how it comes out. We’re very excited, I think we’re gonna have a great screenplay, and we’re getting close.”
When questioned about Depp maybe coming back, he responded, “We’ll see. I would love it. I would love to have him in the movie – that’s all that I can tell you.”
Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse caused Depp to lose out on a £18 million ($22.5m) pay for Pirates of the Caribbean 6, according to Depp’s agent, thus the decision to include him in the upcoming film would not likely surprise many.
Depp said he was “cancelled” and pulled from the role of Jack Sparrow as a result of Heard’s 2018 Washington Post op-ed, in which she claimed she had experienced physical and sexual abuse.
Agent Jack Whigham testified during the former couple’s libel case that Depp did not feature in any studio movies between December 2018 and October 2020 and that money for the independent picture Minamata was almost withheld as a result of Heard’s claims.
“It was catastrophic because it was coming from a first-person account”, he said. “It was not from a journalist, not someone observing, it was from someone saying this happened to me.”
In 2019, Mr. Whigham was informed that the studio had taken a “different direction” from the “verbal agreement” Depp had made with Disney to repeat his role in Pirates of the Caribbean 6.
Mr. Whigham said Depp had received £18 million ($22.5 million) for the role.