An insider with knowledge of the project has suggested that Johnny Depp might reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
The franchise began in 2003 with The Curse Of The Black Pearl, and the actor played the main character in all five of the films. Depp apparently broke off his relationship with Disney after the final film, 2017,’s Dead Men Tell No Tales, and decided not to reprise the role in any other films.
Sean Bailey, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, stated in an interview with The New York Times that the company is prioritizing the reboot of Pirates of the Caribbean in addition to adapting many of its animated classics into live-action stories, the most recent of which is The Little Mermaid.
“We think we have a really good, exciting story that honors the films that have come before but also has something new to say,” Bailey said. However, when it comes to getting Johnny Depp to step back into the role of Captain Jack Sparrow and helm the Black Pearl once more, he said he’s “noncommittal at this point.”
Depp reportedly quit Pirates of the Caribbean last year with no plans to return, according to reports. The actor was involved in a $100 million defamation lawsuit over an opinion piece his ex-wife Amber Heard wrote about alleged domestic violence during their relationship in The Washington Post, which he ultimately won.
While being cross-examined throughout the trial, Depp admitted that Disney withdrew him from Pirates of the Caribbean six days after the op-ed was published. He went so far as to remark that “nothing on this earth” would induce him to reprise his role as Jack Sparrow for Disney.
Depp wasn’t involved in the sixth film or its sequel, according to longtime Pirates of the Caribbean producer Jerry Bruckheimer, but his absence from the series is still up in the air. He added at the time, “The future is yet to be decided.”
Although Bruckheimer has previously stated that Margot Robbie’s female-led spinoff of the Pirates series isn’t completely dead, the Pirates franchise is still in flux.
