Thanks To New Trial, That Petition To Get Johnny Depp Back Into Pirates Of The Caribbean 6 Is Seeing New Life

The situation surrounding Amber Heard and Johnny Depp has been ongoing for years, since the former couple split back in 2016. Their ongoing legal battle has heated up since the defamation trial began in Virginia, leading to plenty of wild updates from the court. And thanks to the trial, that petition to get Depp back into Pirates of the Caribbean 6 is seeing new life. 

Johnny Depp might have had a long career in film, but his name remains synonymous with his tenure as Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He’s not currently attached to the various Pirates movies currently in development at Disney, but that’s something some fans want to see changed. An online petition on Change.Org has recently started getting more attention as a result of the ongoing trial, resulting in over 400,000 signatures at the time of writing this story. And with the sparks in the courtroom happening so consistently, smart money says more eyes will fall on this campaign.

Indeed, Johnny Depp has brought up Pirates of the Caribbean a few times already in court, especially when he took the stand. He spoke about trying to find an ending for the franchise, and how he found out he’d no longer be playing Jack Sparrow on the big screen. From Depp’s perspective, he lost his job over the accusations and legal battle with Amber Heard.

While the timeline of his Pirates of the Caribbean exit is being examined throughout the course of the ongoing situation in the courtroom, Johnny Depp seemingly lost another major franchise role as a direct result of his legal battle with Amber Heard. Because after he lost his libel case against The Sun in the U.K., he was asked to step down from playing Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts series. Depp was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen for The Secrets of Dumbledore, with no reference made in-universe to the change of appearance. 

Depp Walking into Court May 3

(Image credit: JIM WATSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

As for the future of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, there are a number of projects in development by Disney. Margot Robbie was attached to lead her own movie in the same universe, but there’s been no concrete timeline as to when. There was also going to be a sixth movie originally, but Depp has just confirmed that he’s not attached to star. We’ll have to see if/when either of these blockbusters come together.

As previously mentioned, Johnny Depp took the stand in his current defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. And since you’re able to watch the proceedings on television, the footage quickly went viral. Now the tables have turned, as Aquaman actress has begun testifying herself. And as expected, it’s been an emotional appearance including allegations of abuse

Professionally, Johnny Depp recently started booking new film roles, while Amber Heard will appear in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.