Disney Exec to Leaving Door Open For Johnny Depp’s Return

In its 100 years as a studio, The Walt Disney Company has created some of the most memorable and beloved animated and live-action films of all time. In recent history, one of the most successful live-action franchises has been Pirates of the Caribbean. The first film in the five-film series — Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl — introduced audiences to Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp. Depp’s Captain Jack was untrustworthy, hilarious, brilliant, sarcastic, sometimes kind, and everything in between.

Sadly, Disney decided that it no longer wanted to work with Depp after Depp’s ex-wife — actress Amber Heard — published an OpEd in The Washington Post. In the OpEd, Heard claimed she was a domestic abuse victim. While she never named Depp as her abuser, it was during the time that she was married to him. The result? Studios, including Disney, distanced themselves from Depp, and he was dropped from several prominent projects, including the Pirates franchise and the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

Depp ended up suing Heard for defamation and was awarded $10 million in damages. During the trial, it was revealed that, while both Heard and Depp had been abusive towards each other, Heard admitted to hitting Depp. Heard told Depp to tell the authorities what she had done, because she was a woman and no one would believe him over her.

During and after the trials, Depp’s fans demanded that Disney apologize to Depp and bring him back into the Pirates franchise. While Disney has still not apologized for dropping Depp before his side was heard, they are apparently hoping that they may work with him in the future.

The New York Times recently interviewed Sean Bailey, the President of Walt Disney Motion Picture Production. During the interview, the topic of another Pirates of the Caribbean movie came up, and so did Johnny Depp. When asked if Disney wanted to bring Depp back, Bailey did not say that it was out of the question.

Restarting the five-film “Pirates of the Caribbean” series is another priority, although nothing official has been announced. “We think we have a really good, exciting story that honors the films that have come before but also has something new to say,” Mr. Bailey said. Will the franchise’s problematic star, Johnny Depp, return as Captain Jack Sparrow? “Noncommittal at this point,” Mr. Bailey said, seemingly inching the door open.

Disney has been attempting to make a new Pirates film for quite a while. Originally, it looked like Disney was going to write an entirely new story with new pirates. Barbie star Margot Robbie was set to take on the lead role. According to Robbie, Disney changed its mind about her film, and it was “dead”. Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer has also said that he would like to work with Depp again.

Bruckheimer has also said that there is more than one Pirates of the Caribbean script in the works. If Disney is really serious about trying to bring Depp back, it is possible they are working on an entirely new script for him. Depp, for his part, has said that, after the way Disney treated him, he would not return to the company for $300 million and 1 million alpacas.