Johnny Depp’s defamation lawsuit against his ex-wife Amber Heard continues and as part of Johnny Depp’s testimony we have learned a little about the actor’s own thoughts about the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. It seems that, had Disney decided not to move forward without him, we would likely still be seeing the end of Captain Jack Sparrow sooner rather than later.
The Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise is core to the entire defamation case that Johnny Depp filled against Amber Heard. He claims her Washington Post op-ed from 2018 in which she revealed that she had previously suffered from domestic abuse caused Disney to drop Depp from the Pirates movies. While Heard never mentioned her alleged abuser by name, it was widely understood to be Depp she was referring to.
The Jack Sparrow actor says it was after the publication that he was dropped from the franchise, which meant the loss of millions in potential income from the franchise Depp has apparently never seen,. However, the actor recently said in testimony (via Insider) that he was planning to wrap up the franchise at some point, he just wanted to be able to do so on his own terms. Depp explained…
A franchise can last only so long. And there’s a way to end a franchise like that. And I thought the characters should have a way out, to end the franchise on a very good note. And I planned on continuing until it was time to stop.
While there have been reports that Disney is working on new Pirates of the Caribbean films without the actor, Depp referred to those films as being in “dangle mode” as there has been little to no forward progress on them that we can see from the outside. Reports are that there are actually multiple projects in the works, one Pirates film that could star Margot Robbie, and another that is seen as a more direct sequel to the existing franchise, though one that would be without Captain Jack Sparrow. Even the possibility of a Johnny Depp cameo in a future Pirates of the Caribbean movie seems out of the cards.
While Depp says he had planned on continuing “until it was time to stop” that could have meant anything. Certainly, Depp saw at least one more movie in his future playing Jack Sparrow. Of course, with five films already under his belt we could have seen several more if they continued to make money. The franchise’s box office receipts had been on a decline domestically but the Pirates of the Caribbean films are still big money makers internationally.
Whatever Johnny Depp thought he was doing with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is now gone. Now the big question remaining is whether or not we will actually see more from this popular series without Captain Jack Sparrow.