A pirate’s life may not be on the cards for Johnny Depp after all.
Days after news broke that Depp had been offered a $300 million paycheck to return to the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film franchise, the Hollywood actor’s representative has denied the news is true.
Days ago, a gossip site ran the news that grabbed headlines around the world that the actor had been asked to reprise one of his most iconic roles in the beloved Disney franchise, with a big fat payout and an apology offered for his return.
Even as fans got excited about Depp’s first major role since winning the defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard earlier this month, his rep spoke to NBC News and shut down the story. “This is made up,” the rep told the news channel.
Depp played Captain Jack Sparrow in all five movies in the franchise, the latest one being the 2017 film ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.’
However, his Hollywood career took a back seat in 2016 following his very public divorce battle with Heard, who also took out a restraining order against Depp and accused him of domestic abuse.
In the legal battles that took place across two continents in the corresponding years, Depp claimed he lost out on plum film projects, with the actor also being replaced in the Harry Potter spin-off ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’, which released this year with actor Mads Mikkelsen replacing him as dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald.
During the most recent defamation trial held in Virginia over an op-ed that was printed in The Washington Post with Heard’s byline that implied Depp had abused her during their marriage, the actor had shared that he has no interest in returning for more ‘Pirates’ movies.
At one point during the trial, Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn asked the actor: “The fact is, Mr Depp, if Disney came to you with $300 million and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film? Correct?”
Depp replied: “That is true, Mr Rottenborn.”
The trial, which concluded earlier this month, saw the seven-member jury give a verdict in favour of Depp. Heard was ordered to pay Depp $10.35 million for damaging his reputation. The actress has said she plans to appeal.
