‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Helped Johnny Depp Fulfill His Dream of Buying a Private Island
Johnny Depp became the successful face of a film franchise for the first time after starring in Pirates of the Caribbean. The role not only added to Depp’s film legacy, but it allowed the actor to buy his own island. Which was a longtime dream of his.
Johnny Depp was considered box-office poison before ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’
Depp had a lengthy and successful career even before entering the Pirates franchise. He grew his filmography with starring roles in films such as Edward Scissorhands, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and Sleepy Hollow.
His reputation as a leading man earned him the reputation as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. But behind the scenes, there was another less generous reputation attached to Depp despite his success. Although many of Depp’s films were received warmly, some even considered cult-classics, their box-office performance was underwhelming to some. So Depp was considered a star that didn’t have much drawing power at the time. A perception which Pirates helped change.
“I went through 20 years of what the industry basically described as failures. For 20 years I was defined as box office poison,” Depp once said at a press conference according to Digital Spy. “I didn’t change anything in terms of my process, I didn’t change a thing. But that little film Pirates Of The Caribbean came round and I thought, yeah, it’ll be fun to play a pirate for my kiddies.”
The success of Pirates presented even stronger irony when considering that Depp’s character work put his role in jeopardy.
“I created the character the same way I created all the other ones and I nearly got fired, and thank God they didn’t,” he continued. “It changed my life. I’m hyper, super-thankful that radical turn happened, but it’s not like I went out of my way to make it happen.”
Johnny Depp realized his dream of buying an island thanks to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’
The Pirates franchise has been good to Depp during his run. Apart from solidifying his leading man status, the franchise substantially added to Depp’s net worth. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Depp earned $10 million for the first Pirates film. He earned $60 million on the second film. The third Pirates film generated $55 million for Depp. According to Forbes, Depp was then allegedly paid $55 million and $90 million for the fourth and fifth movies respectively.
The amount of money Depp made off the Pirates films allowed him to enjoy certain luxuries that he’d always dreamed of having. One of those luxuries was being able to afford his own island.
“The ultimate irony is that I was given an opportunity to do a pirate movie back in 2003 that even Disney thought was gonna crap out,” Depp once told Reuters. “That was the thing that allowed me to buy my dream, to buy the island – a pirate movie!”
Johnny Depp called the amount of money he was paid for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ stupid
Although Depp took the time to enjoy the fruits of his labor, after a while he felt what he was being paid was ridiculous. But Depp took solace in realizing the money he was making from the Pirates movies wasn’t really his.
“Basically, if they’re going to pay me the stupid money right now, I’m going to take it,” he told Vanity Fair in 2011. “I have to. I mean, it’s not for me. Do you know what I mean? At this point, it’s for my kids. It’s ridiculous, yeah, yeah. But ultimately is it for me? No. No. It’s for the kids.”
