As far as we know, Disney still has a pair of new Pirates in the Caribbean projects in development, neither of which were ever going to feature the return of Johnny Depp’s iconic Captain Jack Sparrow.
Removing the biggest selling point, most marketable asset, and a genuine icon of 21st Century blockbuster cinema from the equation always seemed like a strange move on paper, especially when the brand was sailing on fumes as it was. Reviews had been steadily trending downwards ever since The Curse of the Black Pearl, while the box office for Dead Men Tell No Tales dipped by over $200 million compared to On Stranger Tides.
Countless petitions and fan campaigns have been launched in an effort to have Depp reinstated as the swashbuckling hero, while several Pirates veterans have admitted that it simply wouldn’t be the same without him. However, during a recent courtroom appearance, the actor revealed he’d refuse the opportunity to reprise the role under any and all circumstances, even if he was offered $300 million.
As you can imagine, Pirates of the Caribbean enthusiasts weren’t best pleased to discover that any hopes of seeing Depp welcomed back into the fold may have been extinguished for good, as you can see from the reactions below.
Essentially, even if Depp comes out on top of the defamation battle against ex-wife Amber Heard, which could in turn reignite, revitalize, and reinvigorate a career that’s gone almost completely stagnant, he doesn’t possess any interest whatsoever in heading back to the well for a sixth outing as the character that landed him his first Oscar nomination and turned him into an A-list superstar, so you can understand why folks aren’t best pleased.
