Johnny Depp Will Not Return As ‘Captain Jack Sparrow’, Even for $300 Million

Johnny Depp has been a popular talking point lately as the actor and his ex-wife Amber Heard continue with an ongoing defamation trial, but any Disney fans who have stood by Johnny Depp due to his iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise are in for some bad news! Johnny Depp apparently just made it clear in the courtroom that he would not be interested in reprising his role as the comical swashbuckling pirate in any more Pirates of the Caribbean films — not even for “$300 million”.

Johnny Depp’s definitive (and, for many Captain Jack Sparrow fans, disappointing) statement about his famous role came into play during cross-examination in the defamation trial on Wednesday, April 20, when Amber Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn cross-examined Johnny Depp in an effort to weaken “the actor’s claims that Heard’s op-ed cost him the [Disney] role”.

Aquaman actress Amber Heard had written an op-ed for the Washington Post in 2018 alleging that her husband Johnny Depp had been abusive towards her. Since Johnny Depp faced enormous public backlash due to the accusations and Disney began “trying to cut ties” with him, he sued Heard for defamation and the negative effects that her claims had on his career (including his work with Disney). Heard then sued Johnny Depp in response.

During this defamation trial, Johnny Depp will apparently “have to show that Disney’s decision [not to work with him] came as a direct result of Heard’s original op-ed” — hence Rottenborn’s question about whether or not Johhny Depp had even wanted to return to his pirate role in the blockbuster Disney franchise (which also starred Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom).

“The fact is, Mr. Depp,” Heard’s attorney asked, “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 apparently said the following: “That is true, Mr. Rottenborn.” With a clear statement in a courtroom, it seems like Pirates of the Caribbean fans will certainly have to take Depp’s response at face value and adjust to a Pirates franchise that no longer includes Captain Jack Sparrow.

Depp’s character Captain Jack was the central character in the swashbuckler films (so much so that renowned actor Brian Cox actually turned down a Pirates of the Caribbean role because he felt that it was just “very much the ‘Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow’ show”), so the franchise might lose many of its audience members now that Johnny Depp has made it clear he’s not interested in returning!