Johnny Depp Officially Replaced As Jack Sparrow
Pirates of the Caribbean is officially moving on as it has been announced that a new movie is beginning production without Johnny Depp starring.
To very few people’s surprises, it has been confirmed that Johnny Depp will not be returning as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean reboot. The actor did state in court that he would not return to the franchise, even if he had been offered a sum of $300 million. This could be because the entertainment conglomerate has not backed up the mana after he had been accused of domestic abuse. Now Jerry Bruckheimer, longtime producer of the franchise has stated he is working on a new Pirates film, but with a new star attached. Margot Robbie will officially be the face of the new swashbuckling adventures. You can see this announcement below:
There are plenty of people holding out hope that Johnny Depp would eventually return to his most iconic role, but that has all been done away with…for now. It has also been stated by Bruckheimer that Depp would not return right now. When Bruckheimer was questioned about the actor’s return, he simply stated, “Not at this point. The future is yet to be decided.” To play devil’s advocate for a second, it has also been reported that Bruckheimer is working on two scripts for the franchise. One will star Margot Robbie, and the other one has not been detailed yet. He did say the future is not decided, so maybe the outcome of the trial will determine if Depp is brought back.
The defamation trial that Johnny Depp is involved in squarely lands on the fact that he was fired from the Pirates reboot after the op-ed piece came out in The Washington Post from his ex-wife Amber Heard, so it stands to reason that maybe Disney might be able to patch things up with the actor should he win this case. However, Margot Robbie is a big enough star that can take the franchise in a new direction. Also, there are a ton of legacy characters that can be brought in to breathe new life into this fan-favorite Disney story. We have also confirmed that Bill Nighy is in talks to return as Davy Jones in this new reboot. Is he the human version or the tentacle face version of the character, will be left up for debate? Regardless, landing Nighy is a huge step in the right direction of the Pirates reboot.
Johnny Depp will not see the end of his lawsuit against his ex-wife until likely the end of this month, so nothing can be dead set on him moving forward in his acting career. Although everyone can speculate on Disney holding its breath for the end of the trial, it seems that both parties plan to amicably move forward without one another. As iconic as Depp’s portrayal of Jack Sparrow is, the final two films in the series were lackluster anyway. It might be time to just see what the franchise can do without its starring figure. Especially considering Jerry Bruckheimer has already begun production on the Robbie-led Pirates film. Maybe we get a Depp cameo in the future, but for now, it’s time to send those hopes to Davy Jones’ locker.
