Johnny Depp to play in another Pirates sequel and in Lone Ranger Film

You know it’s a good day when you’re blessed with three stories about projects dreamboat Johnny Depp has signed on for. The news came out earlier today that Depp, 45, had signed on to play the Mad Hatter in a 3D live action animated adaption of Alice in Wonderland, to be directed by Tim Burton. Now there’s news that Depp has signed on for another Pirates of the Caribbean sequel, something that seemed to inevitably be coming based on the enormous box office take of the last three episodes. He’s also set to play sidekick Tonto in a Lone Ranger film to be put out by Jerry Bruckheimer. I’m not one to criticize Depp on the big screen in any capacity at all, but doesn’t Hollywood have some new ideas on how to capitalize on his hotness? Tried and true may be safer in these troubled economic times, though.


Depp announced the dual roles for Disney by appearing on stage at a Disney event at LA’s Kodak theater wearing both his Pirates costume and a Lone Ranger mask. Why are there no pictures of this?

It appears the gazillion dollars the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies raked in weren’t good enough for Walt Disney. Franchise star Johnny Depp will reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow for a fourth installment of the franchise, according to Movieweb.com.

Disney also announced Depp will play iconic sidekick Tonto in Jerry Bruckheimer’s big screen take on “The Lone Ranger” as well as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s forthcoming “Alice in Wonderland” remake.

The announcements came Wednesday during a Disney Studio Showcase at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles. Depp appeared in full Sparrow regalia, while wearing a black mask in a nod to his Lone Ranger role.

I always thought of Depp as the kind who has some shred of integrity when it comes to choosing roles. We all know the “Pirates” flicks paid him a ton of money, but films like “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” showed there was still more to him than mumbling like Keith Richards for two hours.

[From Lehighvalleylive]

The last Pirates movie made no sense to me and I found it kind of interminable. I probably wouldn’t go see another one unless it got great reviews. Depp has expressed his gratitude to the Pirates series in interviews and has mentioned several times that he’d be open to doing another one. Keira Knightley has pretty much ruled out reprising her role as Elizabeth Swann in another sequel. Orlando Bloom also indicated that he’d like to walk away from the series, saying in May, 2007 that “I’m looking forward to taking on some completely new challenges. I’ll be sad to see it go, but it’s time to do something new for me. The great thing about this film is that, as a trilogy, there’s closure.” As long as there’s boatloads of cash to be made and the star is up for another sequel, there’s no such thing as closure in Hollywood.

Published 9/25/08 by


Cele|bitchy

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