Numbers present that the person behind Captain Jack is nicely previous his 2000s field workplace prime…however his scandals aren’t completely guilty
Since his debut as certainly one of Freddy Krueger’s victims in 1984’s “Nightmare on Elm Street,” Depp has racked up over $10 billion in profession international field workplace grosses. Nearly half of that has come from Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequence, which earned Depp an Oscar nomination and catapulted him into the summer season blockbuster elite via the 2000s. Two installments of the “Pirates” sequence — “Dead Man’s Chest” in 2006 and “On Stranger Tides” in 2011 — grossed over $1 billion worldwide, as did Disney’s remake of “Alice in Wonderland” in 2010, by which Depp performed the Mad Hatter.
But over the past decade, Depp’s bankability has waned. Between 2003 and 2011, he had six movies that grossed over $400 million worldwide. Since then, he has had solely two: “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” with $788 million and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” in 2018 with $651 million. (And although his character’s identify is within the title, Depp had solely a supporting function.)
In each circumstances, these sequels have underperformed in comparison with earlier installments. While “Dead Men Tell No Tales” did nicely in China, its international grosses have been down 25% from “On Stranger Tides,” thanks largely to home numbers that have been the bottom in franchise historical past — $172 million, with inflation adjustment. “The Crimes of Grindelwald” noticed a 20% drop from the $812 million international gross of the primary “Fantastic Beasts,” by which Depp solely had a cameo.
And Depp additionally racked up a string of pricey flops, together with 2013’s “The Lone Ranger” ($260 million towards a $225 million price range), 2015’s “Mortdecai” ($30.three million towards a $60 million price range) and 2016’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass” ($276 million towards a $170 million price range).
“The Lone Ranger” and “Mortdecai” have been each failed efforts to spark new franchises at a time when studios are targeted on sequel-worthy properties. In this century, sequence like “Fast & Furious” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe has proven that acquainted IP usually curiosity mainstream audiences greater than particular person stars.
And whereas the stain of a British court docket labeling him a “wife beater” may damage his popularity — and make him persona non grata for movie initiatives focusing on household audiences, a minimum of for now — many observers count on that Depp will be capable to overcome his present challenges down the road.
“Most of the general public probably doesn’t pay attention to the tabloid headlines and just focuses on (stars) as actors and whether they’re interested in the films they are in,” Box workplace analyst Shawn Robbins mentioned. “Take a look at Will Smith. He was on top of the charts for years and years but then had a long lull. But then last year he came back in ‘Aladdin’ and had a huge hit when attached to a Disney remake.”
For Depp, it might merely be that “Pirates of the Caribbean” and a “Harry Potter” prequel sequence are now not the surefire hits they as soon as have been, and his struggles with discovering hits past these confirmed franchises are merely ones dealing with loads of different A-listers. Take Robert Downey Jr., whose first main post-Marvel movie, “Dolittle,” flopped earlier this yr, incomes simply $250 million towards a reported $175 million price range (earlier than reshoots).