![hollywood, ca may 18 actor johnny depp at the premiere of disneys and jerry bruckheimer films pirates of the caribbean dead men tell no tales, at the dolby theatre in hollywood, ca with johnny depp as the one and only captain jack in a rollicking new tale of the high seas infused with the elements of fantasy, humor and action that have resulted in an international phenomenon for the past 13 years may 18, 2017 in hollywood, california photo by jesse grantgetty images for disney](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/gettyimages-684966422-6411b28a8e2d1.jpg?crop=1.00xw:1.00xh;0,0&resize=1200:* "Premiere Of Disney's And Jerry Bruckheimer Films' "Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales"")
In news that you probably didn’t have on your 2023 bingo card, Johnny Depp could be set for a return to the Pirates of the Caribbean.
Jerry Bruckheimer – one of the producers of the franchise – said he would “love” to see Depp back in his role of Captain Jack Sparrow in the sixth instalment of the film series.
When asked about the Disney-owned series on the Oscars red carpet, Bruckheimer told Entertainment Tonight: “We’re all working on it [the next Pirates film]. We’ll see how it comes out. We’re very excited, I think we’re gonna have a great screenplay when, and we’re getting close.”
When asked if Depp would be making a reappearance in the role, he said: “We’ll see. I would love it. I would love to have him in the movie – that’s all that I can tell you.”
The news might come as a bit of a surprise to fans and to Depp himself, who spent most of last year embroiled in a libel battle in court with his ex-wife Amber Heard. As part of the trial, Depp and his agent claimed Depp had been dropped from the film series and missed out on a fee of $22.5 million because of Heard’s allegations of domestic abuse.
The court case came about after Heard wrote an op-ed piece for the Washington Post in 2018, claiming she had been a victim of sexual and physical violence, although not naming Depp explicitly. During the libel trial – which was streamed online – both parties claimed they had been abused by the other partner.
The jury found Heard liable in three matters of defamation and awarded Depp $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages, later reduced to $350,000.
However, Heard was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages due to her counterclaim that Depp’s lawyer had published defamatory and false claims about her in the Daily Mail. Eventually, the cases were settled with Heard to pay $1 million to Depp, which he said would be donated to charity.
At the end of last year, The Sun first mooted the idea that Depp could be headed back to POTC. According to an insider, his name had been seen on a call sheet for a test shoot for the film in February 2023: “Johnny is set to return as Captain Jack Sparrow and is scheduled to start filming at the beginning of February at a top-secret location in the UK.
“Everything is in the early stages and there is still no director attached to the project, which is being called A Day At The Sea. Johnny is expected to do a test shoot in early February before the production gets fully underway.”
Since the court case, Depp has been concentrating on his musical – rather than acting – ventures. He played alongside Jeff Beck before Beck’s death in January this year, and is set to perform at two memorial gigs for him with Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall in May.
