A new report reveals Johnny Depp's finger injury sustained while shooting Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales cost Disney millions. Depp's role as Jack Sparrow in the original Pirates of the Caribbean launched him as a bonafide blockbuster movie star, earning him an Oscar nomination and a place as one of the top-earning stars of the past 20 years, mainly due to his work on the franchise. However, Depp has suffered significant reputational damage in recent years thanks to his legal battles involving ex-wife Amber Heard.
As a result, he's been fired from his latest franchise role as the dark wizard Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts 3, though he will still be paid his full salary. He's also been removed from the Pirates franchise by Disney, who are forging ahead with a Margot Robbie-led reboot of the series and a sixth movie in the original franchise that won't feature Jack Sparrow. Depp's time filming the most recent entry, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, was not a happy one, with a report of an injury to his hand at the time being said to have impacted production "minimally." As it happens, the assertion that production wasn't affected was far from the truth.
An extensive new report on Depp's recent behavior by THR reveals more details about his 2015 injury, saying the tip of his finger was sliced off during an alcohol and drug-fueled clash with Heard. As a result, Depp had to fly to LA for surgery to fix the injury, and the filming delay ended up costing Disney $350,000. The report says production was delayed for two weeks, meaning it could have cost Disney up to $4.9 million. The numbers are startling, considering the injury was due to Depp's private actions, as opposed to something that happened on set.
The details of the story, and the resulting cost to Disney, explain why the studio was hesitant to include Depp in their plans for the franchise in the future. Besides the reputational issues caused by Depp's alleged behavior, which would have been a risk to the family-friendly company, Disney was likely also wary of a similar unhinged incident threatening production on a future movie and costing them more. Whatever fans may think of Depp or Robbie, there's no doubt the latter actor doesn't come with any worries of that sort attached.
That makes her a much safer production bet to lead a Pirates of the Caribbean reboot. As for Depp, he's lost his role in two major franchises and is reportedly no longer attached to a prestige Harry Houdini TV series produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It's a staggering fall from grace for the star, and one which seems to have begun with the reports of his hand injury on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Source: THR