Despite Rumors, Johnny Depp Will Not Be Returning To Pirates Of The Caribbean

According to E Online, this rumor came from an Australian site called PopTopic and suggested that the entertainment giant had further plans for its prodigal star.

As a supposed source told the website, "Disney is very interested in patching up their relationship with Johnny Depp. They are very hopeful that Johnny will forgive them and return as his iconic character."

As Forbes reported, this series would have explored the early years of Sparrow's pirate career despite the fact that Depp would have been playing this younger version of his character at 59 years old.

But even before there was an official word from Depp's team about the veracity of this rumor, that wasn't the only detail that seemed fishy to skeptics.

After all, Forbes noted that Depp was paid $22.5 million during his last turn as Sparrow and even at the peak of the series' popularity before At World’s End was released, Depp walked away with a $50 million.

In addition to that figure totalling the entire budget of At World's End, it sounded like a direct reference to a question that came up during the trial.

As Amber Heard lawyer Ben Rottenborn asked Depp, "The fact is, Mr. Depp, 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?"

And just in case any of his fans were still getting their hopes up, they had to learn the hard way that some things can't just be wished into existence.

As a representative for Depp said, "This is made up."

So even if Disney was somehow willing to offer him $301 million (which they haven't), Depp has made it clear that he's not coming back to the franchise.

h/t: E Online, Forbes