Johnny Depp Claims He Was Over Compensated for His Highest Grossing Role in 'Pirates of the Caribbean'
Johnny Depp has openly confessed that he was "over compensated" for his critically acclaimed role as Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. He received a staggering $650 million for the fantasy adventure franchise. In the five installements of the film released between 2003 and 2017, Depp made a $10 million paycheck for the first film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl itself, reports The Things. In a candid remark Depp called the earnings "stupid money." He said, "Basically, if they’re going to pay me the stupid money right now, I’m going to take it. I have to. I mean, it’s not for me. Do you know what I mean? At this point, it’s for my kids. It’s ridiculous, yeah, yeah. But ultimately is it for me? No. No. It’s for the kids."
According to The Things, the veteran actor continued to receive a lucrative paycheck for the rest of the installments of the franchise as the film broke box-office expectations worldwide. For the second film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Depp's remuneration increased by $20 million and he received an additional $40 million from the film's backend success, bringing his total compensation to an impressive $60 million. For the third film Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Depp reportedly made $50 million; Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides saw the Hollywood A-lister make $55 million; and by the fifth film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, he made a whopping salary of $90 million.
There were rumors that a sixth installement to the booming Pirates of the Caribbean is in the works, and Depp is expected to reprise his role as Jack Sparrow while taking home a massive pay of $300 million. However, the rumors died down quickly after Depp was embroiled in court with his ex-wife Amber Heard. Speaking about the stalled 6th film to Entertainment Weekly during his defamation case trial, Depp revealed, "My feeling was that these characters should be able to have their proper goodbye. A franchise could only last for so long, and there's a way to end a franchise like that. And I thought that the characters deserved to have their way out of… to end the franchise on a very good note. And I planned on continuing until it was time to stop."
Disney abruptly halted in the pre-production phase of the 6th installment after Depp was dragged to court. Speaking about this, he said he was "approached to take part in writing in Pirates 6" prior to Heard's op-ed. Jack Sparrow, he testified, "was a character that I had built from the ground up and was something that I put a lot of myself into." He also said, "Having added much of myself, much of my own rewriting, the dialogue, the scenes, the jokes, I didn't quite understand how after that long relationship and quite a successful relationship with Disney that… suddenly I was guilty until proven innocent."
Meanwhile, Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise is one of the reason why Depp has accumulated an estimated $650 million net worth, and the his classic iconic role will be remembered for a long time to come.
