Johnny Depp has broken his social media silence and spoken out on his new role after months of rumors.

Credit: Columbia Pictures
Actor Johnny Depp, the once celebrated movie star who appeared in films for what felt like every year from the 1990s to the late 2010s, has not been seen in a big Hollywood blockbuster since 2018’s Fantastic Beasts sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Shortly before that, the star played what would become his final performance as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) was the fifth film in The Walt Disney Company’s Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011).

Credit: Disney

Depp’s turn as Captain Jack Sparrow is his most commercial role to date, aiding in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise’s $4.5 billion total success. Jack Sparrow is one of pop culture’s most beloved and recognizable characters, even though Disney was initially (very) vocally unsure of Depp’s take on the pirate character.

As for his continuation in the franchise, Depp is currently not attached to the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean 6. Following the breakdown of his marriage with fellow actor Amber Heard, whom he met on the set of The Rum Diary (2011), the pair ended up locked in a series of legal battles relating to alleged domestic abuse in the relationship.

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The first major lawsuit came with Depp’s libel case against British publication The Sun and News Group Newspapers after the newspaper called him a “wife beater.” Depp lost his case in London, with Justice Andrew Nicol finding many of the domestic abuse claims “substantially true” after hearing testimonies from both sides.

Two years later, Depp and Heard would return to the courtroom in the high-profile defamation lawsuit. The case, which was set in motion after Heard’s Op-Ed in The Washington Post, took place in Fairfax County, Virginia, and saw Depp and Heard’s team litigate for six weeks. The jury, presided over by Judge Penney Azcarate, found Heard had defamed her former husband on all three of the counts listed, with Depp being found guilty of defaming Heard on one count through his ex-lawyer, Adam Waldman.

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Despite the lawsuits, Depp’s fans have remained loyal to the actor, often making the #JusticeForJohnnyDepp trend online. As for Heard, the actress will be back on the big screen this Christmas, playing Mera in James Wan’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023).

Johnny Depp is now back with his sophomore directorial debut, Modi (2024), based on the life and times of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. It is currently being filmed in Hungary and follows his first directing effort, 1997’s The Brave.

Credit: Hollywood Vampires
Depp’s movie, produced by his own outfit, IN.2 Film, as well as other companies like Salome Productions and Proton Cinema, stars Al Pacino as Maurice Gangna, Luisa Ranieri as Rosalie Tobia, Antonia Desplat as Beatrice Hastings, Stephen Graham as Léopold Zborowski, Bruno Gouery as Maurice Utrillo, Ryan McParland as Chaïm Soutine, Benjamin Lavernhe as Monsieur Petit, and Sally Phillips as the General’s wife. Riccardo Scamarcio will play the titular role of Amedeo Modigliani.

After reports and rumors of bad behavior from Depp on the set of Modi (claims which were disputed), Depp broke his social media silence and celebrated his role as the director of Modi. Posting to his millions of followers on Instagram, Depp wrote:

To my dear ‘Modi’ film family, Köszönöm [(“Thanks” in Hungarian)] for all your exceptional efforts without which this film could not have been made. Please accept my eternal admiration, appreciation, respect and love, JD. X. [Budapest, 2023] Photo by Leo Pinter

The post has since gone viral, with over 1.4 million likes and close to 15,000 comments, with many fellow celebrities congratulating the Pirates of the Caribbean star on his directorial effort.

The financing of the Modi project was backed by the Red Sea Film Foundation — the same outlet that provided funds for Depp’s most recent feature film, Jeanne du Barry (2023), where he starred as the controversial King Louis XV in actress and director Maïwenn’s French movie. Maïwenn portrayed the titular mistress of the monarch.

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As for Depp’s future in Hollywood, chances are the actor may stay in these more independent, lower-budget circles.

He spoke earlier this year about his time living in England, United Kingdom, and how he relishes the quiet of residing outside the typical Hollywood sphere.

He could, though, make his big, splashy comeback in Pirates of the Caribbean 6. If Jerry Bruckheimer is raring to go and Depp is now considering his return, could Captain Jack Sparrow once again make it back to the big screen after all?

Will you be heading out to see Johnny Depp’s new movie? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!