Fans of Johnny Depp who want him to don Captain Jack Sparrow’s torn boots and tricorn will be disappointed, as the actor has no intentions to work with Disney again.
Regardless of unhappy speculation about the actor’s potential return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which reports suggested could earn him up to $20 million, Depp’s friends say he is done with Disney for good as he is still angry about how the studio dropped him when his ex-wife Amber Heard accused him of abuse.
Last week, Disney Studios President Sean Bailey made news across the world when he said that the company was noncommittal at this moment concerning Johnny Depp’s comeback. Following his victory in court in Virginia last year on domestic violence charges, it was largely seen as a move to leave the door open for Depp.
However, having spent the previous several months considering what he does and does not want to do, insiders close to the celebrity indicate that acting in a Disney picture does not interest him on the eve of his 60th birthday on Friday.
According to sources, Depp is still stinging from the manner in which they ditched him when the wife-beating allegations first appeared.
They blind dumped him despite Amber lying her a** off,’ a pal said.
Although he said at Cannes that he does not feel blacklisted by Hollywood, Depp, a sensitive guy, is furious with the way the domestic violence charges were handled and has concluded that focusing on a life outside of the profession is best for him.
The friend claims that regardless of how rich the offer or how little the role, he would never agree to return for this specific studio picture – and that he is unlikely to be lured to do any studio film again.
So it wasn’t only Disney that let Depp go at the first indication of difficulty.
For example, Tim Burton, a longtime friend of the actor, is producing a sequel to Beetlejuice for Warner Bros., but Depp will not feature, despite being godfather to Tim’s kids.
Friends indicated that this is due, at least in part, to his unwillingness to work with Warner Bros. again after the company dropped him from the Fantastic Beasts series when he lost his libel suit in London.
After five years dominated by court disputes with his ex-wife Amber Heard, Depp is resuming his career by focusing on music, painting, and directing arthouse flicks.
His blockbuster period seemed to have passed him by.
During the Cannes Film Festival last month, he was calm and introspective.
He began experiencing these circuses—they may call them carnivals—so long ago, he remarked. One’s life becomes like a circus, he added. One doesn’t get accustomed to the circus, but one knows there’s nothing one can do except breathe, exhale, and accept what occurs next. It’s still strange to him.
He claims he isn’t keen on saying someone else’s words, a person close to the actor said. He is now interested in honest self-expression via art and music. He has no desire to work in Hollywood.
Could he pursue another passion project, such as the 2020 film Minamata, which is about mercury contamination in Japan?
He may, according to the insider. The insider believes he will spend the mostmajorityhis time in France, painting and producing music. There could be an unusual film.
This year, he has focused on helping his good friend Jeff Beck’s widow, who is 58 years old. He rushed to Beck’s bedside and attended the burial alongside Sandra. He was also there when Beck was laid to rest in a green ceremony in the back yard of their Sussex home.
During the epidemic, the actor lived with Beck and Sandra for lengthy periods of time.
Since then, he has brought Sandra on vacation to his Bahamas island, Little Parrot Cay. Wendy, the mother of British singer Joss Stone, joined her as well.
He was at the Hotel Bristol last month for a special showing of the film Donny Brasco with his co-star and buddy Al Pacino. Then there was Cannes.
Was it a success? The seven-minute standing ovation, which Depp received with raised eyebrows and smirks, surely says as much. Others, though, have called the supposed accolade “phony.”
According to Deadline, just the portion near Depp stood and applauded, as the rest of the reviewers walked out into the night to write their critiques.
And they were all negative. Some thought that Depp’s quiet and mainly wordless performance (possibly uncomfortable in French) was an improvement over Jack Sparrow’s frantic over-acting, but no one had a kind word to say about the picture itself.