Johnny Depp Officially Booted From 'Pirates Of The Caribbean'

Oh bugger.

Johnny Depp first played the role of Jack Sparrow way back in 2003 in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, a film that skyrocketed him into mainstream mega stardom, and helped him nab an Oscar nomination. But now after 15 years, five films, and billions of dollars at the box office, the 55-year-old will be closing the book on the iconic role.

Sean Bailey, Disney’s production chief, recently told The Hollywood Reporter, “We want to bring in a new energy and vitality. I love the [Pirates] movies, but part of the reason Paul [Wernick] and Rhett [Reese] are so interesting is that we want to give it a kick in the pants. And that’s what I’ve tasked them with.” Paul and Rhett are the Deadpool writing duo who are in line to write a reboot to the Pirates franchise. That’s right, kids! Another reboot.

Back in October, there were rumblings of Johnny’s possible exit from the franchise, but now Disney has confirmed that the movies will go on without him, even though the only reason people showed up to these films were because of Johnny. Screenwriter Stuart Beattie, one of the writers responsible for the Pirates films, told Daily Mail TV this earlier in the year: “I think he’s [Johnny’s] had a great run. Obviously, he’s made that character his own and it’s become the character he’s most famous for now. And kids all over the world love him as that character so I think it’s been great for him, it’s been great for us, so I’m just very, very happy about it.”

Stuart added, “I think Jack Sparrow will be his legacy. It’s the only character he’s played five times, it’s the character he dresses up in to visit children in hospitals, it’s what he’ll be remembered for.”

No word yet if the reboot will move forward by recasting the role of Jack Sparrow, but it seems they will just completely retire the character and move on with new characters. And as we say goodbye to Johnny’s most memorable role, let’s take a look back at his sheer brilliance of bringing this character to life.