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Disney recently announced that Johnny Depp will be returning as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean 4: The World’s Most Unnecessary Sequel. This caused a lot of comment that the third instalment of the series wasn’t very good, and that he should be moving forward, and is selling out. Everyone has their price – is yours more than $56 million?
Johnny Depp has struck gold by landing £32million ($US56million) for a fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean adventure.
The bumper cheque is the highest up front pay-out in movie history.
It smashes the £29m ($US51million) paid to Tom Hanks, 52, for the Da Vinci Code follow-up Angels & Demons, out next May.
And it means Depp will leapfrog Will Smith into top spot on Hollywood’s rich list when he reprises his role as Captain Jack Sparrow.
A movie insider said: “It’s a hell of a lot of swag for one movie but there’s only one man who can play Captain Jack Sparrow – and that’s Johnny Depp.
“Pirates just wouldn’t be the same without him, so they were more than willing to smash the record books to land Depp again.
“He’s been the star of the show every time.”
Johnny Depp deserves to be one of Hollywood’s highest paid, I’ll go see anything with him in it, and although I’m sure I’ve seen Pirates 3 and have absolutely no recollection of it. While the salary reports surfaced in the sometimes unreliable British tabloids, I’d have to say that the figure is not unfeasable. There is no movie without Captain Jack!
I also can’t believe that the prequel to The Da Vinci Code is being made, considering how awful this was, and that Tom Hanks is being paid $51 million. The Dan Brown books are just too complex to translate well to the big screen, and I’d have to say that Tom Hanks was too old for the first film, let alone a prequel! Then again, if Harrison Ford can play Indiana Jones in his 60s, I guess Tom Hanks can play a university professor at any age. My mental image from reading the books was of a man about ten years younger than Hanks though.
The highest paid actor ever is, a little surprisingly, Keanu Reeves, who reportedly made $200+ million for his role in The Matrix, based on a merchandise ands sales agreement. Many stars make money from these kinds of deals, and take a lower salary than they might be worth. HollywoodToday.net has a breakdown of how this works, and suggests that Johnny has made almost $150 million from the previous three Pirates films using this system.
Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley have both indicated they’d like to move away from the series, but if Disney thinks the films, which grossed around $3 billion at the box office, have more life in them, I wonder what their price is? And will Disney be willing to pay it? It’s an awful lot fo buried treasure (I couldn’t resist a little pirate reference).
Johnny Depp is shown on 1/16/08 at the Sweeney Todd Paris premiere. Credit: WENN
Written by Helen
Posted in Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, Keira Knightly, Orlando Bloom, Tom Hanks
13 Responses to “Johnny Depp is the highest paid star”
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Johnny Depp is the coolest of the cool.
Hot, handsome, sweet, kind, sizzling,
talented, loyal, and what a work ethic!
Damn, he’s making a new movie every time you turn around!I’m glad “the top” is populated by two of my favs…Will Smith and Johnny Depp.
I’ve loved Johnny all the way back since 21 Jump Street. What amazes me even more is that he really doesn’t look much older now than back then!
How does he do that?
Edward Scissorhands is my favorite of his films. Dianne Wiest as the mom (beautiful) and the scene where he accidentally pokes the hole in the waterbed and places that little throw pillow over it.
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Mmmmmmm. Yes, that’s fine with me.
He makes me tingly in the nethers.
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I LOVE Johnny Depp! It’s so weird, when I saw this post this morning…just last night I was dreaming about Johnny and I “doing the naughty” and I OVERSLEPT! Needless to say it’s a “hat day” for me today!
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Johnny Depp is a fantastic actor, and totally yummy. But I always saw him as the anti-sell-out. I hate to admit that I am just a teensy bit disappointed in him. He has said that Captain Jack was his favorite character to play, so maybe he is doing it for fun and not for money. It’s not as if he needs it, anyway. Whatever the case, I want to carry his child.
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I didn’t think Pirates 3 was so bad. It had it’s good moments, though I agree it wasn’t as good as the first two installments.
He is, without question, the best actor currently in Hollywood. He has played so many diverse characters, and done them all well. He deserves to be number 1!
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*sigh* On general principle I’m against neverending sequels. I have to be hypocrite enough to want to see Pirates 4 though. I loves me some Johnny Depp.
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I’m all right with a 4th movie ONLY if it centers around Jack Sparrow and Barbosa. Geoffrey Rush & Depp made the first two movies and they can keep it up, especially if they’re looking for the fountain of youth. Yes, not only do I own but I remember the 3rd installment. I can do without Kiera & Orlando–dead weight if there ever was, but I suppose they will have to make mention of them at some point.
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Am I the only one here who thought the second movie was rank?
The third was the second best of the three, though I just pretend the second doesn’t exist.
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See I love the Da Vinci Code, both the book and movie.
I loved the book, and how could you not? (I love angels and demons even more)
But the movie had a great cast, and they did a fantastic job considering how complex dan brown’s books are. I’ve read a few. I think they made a great adaptation even if it was totaly true to book.
I mena look at Ella Enchanted, that must be the worst book to movie adpatation ever.
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Maybe he’ll spend some of that money to get his baby-mama’s teeth fixed. And some singing lessons.
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I was a huge fan of the first three movies, but I will give this one a miss.
Part of why I liked it was because of the cast; I loved everyone in it, right down to Naomi Harris and Bill Nighy. Johnny alone just won’t do it for me, it would need to be a spin-off or something instead, not a sequel.
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$56M for one role?! OMG, thats insane, no one person needs that much money
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Who else keeps reading it Mika Eel? I can’t get past the “eel”…...
Yes, I agree with you Helen; I saw Pirates 3 (I think), but have no memory of it. Anything with Johnny Depp is great though, because all the time he’s on screen, he’s putting his own quirky little twist on every character! THAT’S what I love about him mostly, although being a red—blooded woman, I will not try to fool anyone that his looks don’t affect me.
On the Dan Brown topic, I also agree. I read the book first, and LOVED it; there is so much more information in the book than could possibly be shown on film, and when I saw that they had Tom Hanks for the film, I said
What?! 
But, being Tom Hanks, I gave the movie a chance and I wish I hadn’t. Now, they’re going to repeat the disaster with Angels & Demons (which I also really enjoyed, as a BOOK). Tom, I love you, really I do, but you did not do well the first time, and I’m sorry but you are a leetle too *mature* for this role. Please sit this one out! 
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