Posted on 10/29/2018 1:29:17 PM PDT by Red Badger
Johnny Depp has been dropped from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” according to the film franchise’s original scriptwriter Stuart Beattie.
Disney Studios plans to reboot the billion-dollar franchise and will be axing Depp, Beattie told DailyMail TV at a recent red carpet event in Hollywood.
The 55-year-old Depp had played Captain Jack Sparrow—a major role in the five “Pirates” movies over the past 15 years.
“I think he’s had a great run. Obviously, he’s made that character his own and it’s become the character he’s most famous for now,” Beattie said.
“And kids all over the world love him as that character so I think it’s been great for him, it’s been great for us, so I’m just very, very happy about it.”
Beattie called Depp’s rise to stardom and the films’ successes a “miracle.”
“Before Jack Sparrow came along, [Depp] was considered this kind of quirky, independent actor that made these really cool little Tim Burton films, but he was by no means a movie star and a lot of people thought we were crazy for casting him at the time,” Beattie told DailyMail TV.
“Because he wasn’t a proven commodity; you know, a big movie star. And we were making a big movie and we were putting this quirky, independent actor in the middle of it and people thought we were crazy. The fact that it worked is a miracle,” he added.
“Something just clicked and it was magic and connected with audiences. I’m proud to be a part of it,” Beattie said.
The “Pirates” series debuted in 2003 with “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” The series has since grossed $4.5 billion worldwide, making it the 12th highest grossing film series of all time.
The most recent “Pirates” release was “Dead Men Tell No Tales” in 2017. It was the worst performing of the five.
“I think Jack Sparrow will be his legacy. It’s the only character he’s played five times, it’s the character he dresses up in to visit children in hospitals, it’s what he’ll be remembered for,” Beattie said. Reboot
In plans for the “Pirates” reboot, Disney has met with writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, according to Deadline.
The two writers are best known for their work on the “Deadpool” blockbusters released in 2016 and 2018. Beattie confirmed with Daily Mail TV that Reese and Wernick are working on new “Pirates” script drafts.
Depp will appear next as Gellert Grindelwald in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” the second film in the “Fantastic Beasts” series, which is the prequel to the “Harry Potter” series.
The actor has experienced a backlash from fans since May 2016, when then-wife Amber Heard filed for divorce and requested a restraining order against Depp on grounds of domestic violence.
In May this year, Depp’s former bodyguards filed a lawsuit claiming unpaid wages and poor working conditions. In July, Depp was sued by a film crew member whom he allegedly punched twice on a set of a movie about the killing of rapper Notorious BIG.
Depp had the world on a string, all gift-wrapped for adoring fans and himself. Then he got drunk for 15 years and blew it all to hell. And you disappointed your young fans. Shame on you.
So sad. Ya reap what ya sow, Johnny. I’m betting a steak dinner that Depp loses his multi-million island to his painfully abused females and the lawyers. Any takers?
Ya shoulda sat on the john and read Playboy, Johhny. It woulda been a lot less painful.
Depp is broken.
Just saw him in the murder on the Orient Express.
He didn’t overact as he usually does.
He was mediocre.
It seemed like some of the pictures were just pointless filler. They had a franchise and wanted to exploit it, so they just threw something together and called it a movie.
This may actually have been crueler than just dropping the guy.
They'd taken Jack Sparrow as far as they could - and further.
Maybe it would have been better to assume that Depp could get other and better work, than treating him as if he were so fragile.
21 Jump Street (1987) $45,000 per episode
Nick of Time (1995) $5,000,000
Donnie Brasco (1997) $5,000,000
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) $10,000,000
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) $18,000,000
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) $20,000,000
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) $10,000,000
Alice in Wonderland (2010) $50,000,000
The Tourist (2010) $20,000,000
Rango (2011) $7,500,000
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) $55,500,000
The Rum Diary (2011) $15,000,000
The Lone Ranger (2013) $20,000,000
Transcendence (2014) $20,000,000
Into the Woods (2014) $15,000,000
Mortdecai (2015) $18,000,000
That’s totally different. Rebooting is going back to square one and starting over. And these pirate movies are still so recent. I just don’t think this will be a money maker for Disney.
I liked Peter Ustinov’s Blackbeard. He looked like I imagined in RL Stephenson’s book.
I liked the 2nd film as it was more light hearted but Johnny Depp just became more effeminate and pranced and mumbled his way thru the remaining films.
They re looking at another Rocky Balboa movie
oh good! I thought it would be a 9 year old female transgender with super powers that like to do rap on the side. Lots of kinky hair and big eyes but gets really angry when confronted by right wing fascist bigoted white conservative men. She will be fighting to save the world from global warming and, oh yeah, world peace.
Seen 'em both. Also Edward Scissorhands, Benny & Joon, Sleepy Hollow, Chocolat, Secret Window, Finding Neverland, Sweeney Todd (wonderful!), Dark Shadows, and one or two of the Pirates films. I hope he cleans himself up, because he can be very entertaining. But the rot is starting to seep out.
The two franchises that need to end are this one and Transformers.
Now you've done it. "Transformers of the Caribbean" coming this summer.
LOL. That could actually happen.
They’ll probably also work in “The Fast and Furious” somehow...
I still laugh out loud at points in the movies, mostly when I finally hear one of the sotto voce comments and can understand it for the first time.
The scene with the giant wheel going down the mountainside with the characters within it sword fighting is one of the classic comic action scenes of all time.
And Jurassic Park.
At 55 YO, that would make a grand, seasoned pirate...
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