Johnny Depp will "return" to Pirates of the Caribbean after being booted from the film franchise in 2018, it's been reported. The Hollywood actor is said to be in talks with Disney about a "$300 million deal" after he won his $50million defamation case against Amber Heard.
A source told Poptopic that Disney recently reached out to the Edward Scissorhands star and that another project is also being lined up with the dad-of-two for Disney Plus. The insider said: "They reached out to the actor prior to his defamation trial against Amber Heard and asked whether he would be interested in returning for another pirate film or two.
"The deal is reportedly for Johnny Depp to return as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean 6 and a spin-off Disney Plus series about the early life of the Captain of The Black Pearl. "What I can tell you is that the studio has already penned up a draft for a film about Jack Sparrow so they are very hopeful that Johnny will forgive them and return as his iconic character."
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Depp was the lead character in five of the popular Pirates movies over 15 years. It was thought his last instalment would be Black Pearl in Dead Men Tell No Tales, which was released in 2017.
The source said that Disney is working on a '$301 million deal' to convince Depp to come back, and there is also a 'sizeable donation' to a charity of Depp's choice being thrown in for good measure. Depp previously told the jury in his libel case that he would not work with the movie giants again after he was dropped from the sixth Pirates movie.
It was claimed by his legal team that he lost out on $22 million worth of earnings after his ex wife published her Washington Post op-ed in 2018. That article didn't name Depp, but alluded to the alleged abuse the Aquaman star claimed to have suffered at the hands of he former husband.
Depp said he felt he was 'guilty until proven innocent' with Disney chiefs.
Original Pirates script writer Stuart Beattie was the first to publicly confirm that Disney Studios were ditching the star in 2018 as they rework the entire franchise.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMailTV at a red carpet event in Hollywood, original Pirates script writer Stuart Beattie confirmed on camera the reboot meant Depp was out as Sparrow.
He nodded when he was asked if the star had been dropped and said: "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.
"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."
The jury found in Depp's favour on all three of his defamation claims relating to specific statements in the 2018 article.
The jury found Depp should receive $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, but the judge reduced the punitive damages award to $350,000 under a state cap.
Heard has said she will appeal the verdict and is reported to be facing bankruptcy.
Heard admitted through her lawyer that she cannot afford the $8.3 million in damages awarded to Depp.
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