14 DAY TRIAL // Disney has long confirmed the making of the fourth film in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, “On Stranger Tides,” despite not having a star attached to it yet. Contrary to earlier reports that said that Johnny Depp, as of now the only star of the successful franchise, was having second thoughts about reprising the role of Captain Sparrow, he has just signed a deal with the movie studio for it, as News.com informs.
Moreover, this is not just any movie deal, as reports would have it. According to industry sources, with it, Depp might have just set a new record in terms of earnings for a single movie role, as the deal for the fourth “Pirates” film will net him an estimated $35 million, with some sources even claiming that the amount actually goes as high as $38 million. For a single movie role, this is more than an impressive paycheck.
“Johnny Depp has raised the bar for Hollywood’s leading actors having agreed a basic package of $38 million for his return as Captain Jack Sparrow in the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film. Depp’s staggering fee in today’s economy is a guaranteed minimum for the film, ‘On Stranger Tides,’ but will soar if the new Caribbean film is a huge box-office hit. The fee jumps 46-year-old Depp ahead of the likes of Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson who demand and get around $32 million a film,” the aforementioned media outlet writes.
As we were also telling you a while back, Depp’s participation in the fourth film was, until just recently, placed under a huge question mark as the actor was believed to be having second thoughts about reprising the Captain Jack Sparrow part. Inside sources were telling the media that Depp had only accepted to be a part of the franchise again as a favor of sorts to former Disney boss Dick Cook, who introduced him to it and convinced him to take on a part.
When Cook was removed from his position with Disney, it was believed Depp would no longer see fit to invest time and effort in the film, now that he was no longer tied to it through Cook. There was also the question of the quality of the script, which was said to be about to take a hit in terms of quality, with Cook gone – which, again, did not suit Depp in the least, as we also reported at the time. As it turns out, none of that was accurate and, come 2011, fans will see Johnny Depp as the wacky Captain Jack Sparrow again.