Early in June, rumors abounded over a contract that would have seen Johnny Depp reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The allegations began after the actor allegedly received a $301 million offer to return to the series, according to Australian pop culture news website Poptopic.com. There doesn’t appear to be any proof for this claim, though.
Disney reportedly provided a draft of the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean movie as well as an emotional message, according to the website. Depp and Disney haven’t yet responded to these allegations publicly, though. The claim was widely shared on social media even though others questioned the validity of Dianne Anders’ tweet.
The reported $301 million offer from Disney to Johnny Depp is yet unproven
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Poptopic claims that the knowledge came from a business insider whose identity was not disclosed in the article. Since Anders claimed to have a source in the industry yet the news was posted to the website under the ‘rumor’ category, it increased the doubt around the story.
The veracity of the assertions
Given that the reported $301 million offer is so close to the amount mentioned by Johnny Depp, its validity is called into question. The 58-year-old actor testified in court that he would not return to the show even if he were given $300 million to reprise his role as Jack Sparrow.
Tina Newman, a Disney representative, gave a pre-recorded deposition for the court in May.
At the time, Newman claimed that The Walt Disney Studios were unaware of Depp’s comment. Furthermore, since neither the author nor the magazine is a well-known media outlet, the claim of a $301 million offer is called into question. Because of this, it’s difficult to imagine how they might have acquired a reliable insider tip regarding Disney’s alleged offer to Johnny Depp.
The Pirates of the Caribbean movie series made more than $4.5 billion worldwide through five films, according to CNBC. In the past, Johnny Depp claimed to have received excessive pay for his film appearances in a 2011 interview with Vanity Fair.
Additionally, it was reported at the time that the Kentucky native earned more than $300 million for the series’ first four movies. In the meantime, Jack Wigham, Depp’s talent agent, testified in court that the actor received about $22.5 million for a now-canceled Pirates of the Caribbean 6 screenplay.
It should be noted, though, that the “back-end agreements” in these movies could be worth millions of dollars to the actors because they receive a cut of the ticket sales. Aside from the problems raised by such rumors, the show is reportedly in talks with actress Margot Robbie to be the next star of the franchise. It is therefore highly likely that Disney did not make Johnny Depp an offer of $301 million.
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