A petition requesting that Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise for the sixth installment has garnered more than 500,000 signatures.
"He has been playing this role since 2003 when we first saw him arriving at the Port Royal in his boat with that epic background music playing," reads the description on the Change.org petition. "But can you imagine no Jack Sparrow at all? No epic entry scores, no humorous dialogues and the guy with the most good and bad luck at the same time?"
The petition writer added that "without Johnny Depp or Jack Sparrow they will sink, they will never be able to reach that horizon," noting, "Even if it means nothing to you but please, sign this petition for the ones who REALLY want Johnny Depp as their Captain of the Black Pearl!" Depp appeared as pirate Sparrow in the first five films in Disney's Pirates franchise, but his involvement in the films was put into question after he was fired amid his ongoing -- and messy -- divorce proceedings with ex-wife Amber Heard.
The petition in question was launched nearly two years ago, as a part of the #JusticeForJohnnyDepp campaign. Another petition on Change.org launched around the same time asked that Warner Bros. remove Heard from her lucrative role as Mera in Aquaman, in response to Depp being let go from the Pirates of the Caribbean. Depp was also let go from the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise due to his legal troubles related to the split. News of the Change.org petition comes after it was confirmed in December 2020 that Depp also tried to get Heard fired from the DC film franchise. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Depp told his sister, producer Christi Dembrowski, "I want her replaced on the WB film."
Heard officially responded to the petition, saying at the time that she planned to return for the Aquaman sequel. "I'm super excited about the amount of fan love and the amount of fan appreciation that Aquaman has acquired and that it has garnered so much excitement for Aquaman and Mera that it means we'll be coming back," she told EW.
"I'm so excited to film that. Paid rumors and paid campaigns on social media don't dictate [casting decisions] because they have no basis in reality," she added. "Only the fans actually made Aquaman and Aquaman 2 happen. I'm excited to get started next year."
Depp last appeared as Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which was directed by Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg. The film also starred Javier Bardem as Captain Armando Salazar, Brenton Thwaites as Henry Turner, Kaya Scodelario as Carina Smyth, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs and Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa.
Source: Change.org
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