Johnny Depp Will Not Return to 'Pirates of the Caribbean'

It seems that it is official: it is time for Captain Jack Sparrow to walk the plank as Johnny Depp will not be returning to the role in any future projects for 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. Disney is currently developing new plans for the saga, none of which involve the 'Edward Scissorhands' actor, who is currently awaiting the premier of his latest film, 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald'. The studios have been thinking about carrying out an utter reboot of the franchise and are already looking for a new actor to replace Depp.

The first to announce Depp's exit from the film series was the writer of the original saga, Stuart Beattie, who in an interview spoke about Depp and his character: "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." As Beattie pointed out, Depp's role as Sparrow will be one of the most memorable of his entire career, thus seeing another actor captaining the Black Pearl would be complicated.

Depp first played the character of Captain Jack Sparrow in 2003 with 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' and during the fifteen years and five films that have passed since, he has come to be the most famous buccaneer in cinema. That is, of course, until the most recent 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales', which has been described as the worst performance of his entire career. Depp's personal problems with alcohol and his controversial divorce with Amber Heard started to impact on the making of the last installment as Depp would often arrive late to set, and not always in the best conditions to shoot. His over indulgence could have been the last straw, since Disney has now put any future projects with him to the side.

New Projects Without Depp

With Depp out of the picture, Disney's plans are moving towards a reboot with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (the writers of 'Deadpool') in mind, sticking with the legendary producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, at the heart of it all. Regarding this change of tune in the franchise, Beattie said: "Hopefully they'll bring a lot of the great comedic subversiveness. I was laughing out of my seat in the opening credits of Deadpool so I am a big fan of those guys and I hope they do something really special." We have yet to see what happens with the franchise, but it seems clear that without Depp, fans will not look at the franchise in the same way.

I just made a small edit. There can only be one Captain Jack Sparrow and I accept no one else in the «Pirates» franchise. If the rumors are true, ?? then Disney can go to Davy Jones' Locker! #JohnnyDeppISTHEJACKSPARROW #PiratesLife #PiratesoftheCaribbean #JohnnyDepp #Pirates pic.twitter.com/43sWE6kBfA

? Maddy Depp (@maddykapoor9401) 26 de octubre de 2018