“I’ve certainly spoken to him”: Pirates of the Caribbean Producer Has an Exciting Update as Fans Wait for Johnny Depp’s Return as Jack Sparrow
Based on the fictionalized version of the Golden Age of Piracy, Pirates of the Caribbean is a fantasy supernatural swashbuckler film series starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. It is one of the most popular and successful film series, and it is also based on Walt Disney’s theme park attraction of the same name. It has grossed about $4.5 billion with five movies out.
Johnny Depp has appeared in all five movies of the franchise, rising to be one of the most beloved actors in the audience. The actor has always been appreciated for his performance as an eccentric pirate. The fifth movie, Dead Men Tell No Tales, was released in 2017, which was followed by the actor’s falling out with Disney Studios after his public divorce from ex-wife Amber Heard. Fans have been waiting ever since to know if the actor would reprise his character or not, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer now has an update.
Pirates of the Caribbean producer gives a hopeful update on Johnny Depp returning to the franchise
In a recent interview with ET Online, producer Jerry Bruckheimer was asked about the probability of Johnny Depp’s return as Captain Jack Sparrow, to which he said,
If it was up to me, of course, I love having Depp. He’s a great actor and a good friend. I’ve certainly spoken to him, but we’ll see what happens.
Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow has defined the character so brilliantly that eventually, he became the face of the franchise. It has been stated that it is very unlikely that the franchise would have been where it is today if it weren’t for Johnny Depp. Yet, the studios, following the domestic violence allegations made by ex-wife Amber Heard, dropped him from the sixth installment.
During Depp’s public defamation trial against Heard, the actor was asked if he would like to return to the franchise if they offered him a huge amount, which Depp refused. He said that he felt betrayed by the studios over his firing (via CBR)
Hurt. Blinding hurt. It was like somebody hit me in the back of the head with a 2X4. Captain Jack Sparrow was a character I built from the ground up and was something that I of course put a lot of myself into the character and also having worked on these films with these people and added much of myself, much of my re-writing of the dialogue, scenes, and jokes.
Depp further shared that he didn’t quite understand how the equation that he and the studio shared after working together for such a long time went haywire, and he was considered the one at fault until proven innocent. Depp won the defamation trial but has not commented on his return. However, it was reported in July 2023 via People that a source shared that Depp is ‘open’ to working with Disney if it’s the right project.
Orlando Bloom recalls working with Johnny Depp on Pirates of the Caribbean
Actor Orlando Bloom, who played Will Turner in the series recently during an interview with Variety, recalled working with Depp on The Curse of the Black Pearl. Bloom shared,
Johnny was just in his flow, you know? He was very much enjoying every moment of chewing that scenery. He built out a character that I think he really enjoyed playing. It’s fun to see actors really love what they’re doing and sort of laughing at themselves a little.
The actor went on to reveal that Depp had been chuckling the whole time while he was set, adding that he was trying to create moments for the character. There were talks of having the sixth installment of the movie have a female-led storyline with Margot Robbie leading it, but the idea never took off. The actress never publicly addressed her involvement with the movie, but in November 2022, she revealed that the spin-off is no longer happening.
Robbie, during her interview with Vanity Fair, shared that they had an idea and were developing it with a different kind of story, which, according to her, would have been very cool. Robbie, however, added that maybe Disney wasn’t very keen on it.
Jerry Bruckheimer shared during a March interview with Comicbook.com that the reboot is still happening but with a new cast. Names like Ayo Edebiri and Austin Butler have been floating around as the rumored cast, but nothing can be said for sure.
Pirates of the Caribbean is available to stream on Disney+.
