Orlando Bloom has welcomed the idea of Johnny Depp returning to the Pirates of Caribbean franchise after his Hollywood cancellation.
Depp was embroiled in a series of legal disputes with Amber Heard, his ex-wife, involving accusations of abuse on both sides.
Heard’s allegation against Depp, which he denied, led to him being ostracised by the film industry and he was dropped by Fantastic Beasts, the Harry Potter prequel film series.
Bloom, his former co-star, has now suggested he should reprise his role in future Pirates of the Caribbean films.
Speaking at the Fan Expo Chicago about the possibility of the franchise continuing with its original cast, he said: “I would personally love to see everybody back.
“I think the way to win on that one is to get everybody back. If they can, and if everybody wanted to go back.”
Bloom and Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Swann appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), Dead Man’s Chest (2006), At World’s End (2007) and Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), with both skipping 2011’s On Stranger Tides.
Pirates of the Carribean starred Depp, Bloom and Keira Knightley – WireImage/Eric Charbonneau
There had been talk of a female-led, spin-off of Pirates of the Caribbean with Margot Robbie in a central role similar to Depp’s part of the unstable pirate, Jack Sparrow.
The project was abandoned, leading to talk that the original series could simply be continued, something the producer himself, Jerry Bruckheimer, has suggested.
He said he had spoken to Depp about the possibility of reprising the role of Jack Sparrow, telling Entertainment Weekly: “If he likes the way the part’s written, I think he would do it.”
A return to such a global franchise would mark a definitive end to Depp’s ostracism, which he described to The Telegraph this year as feeling “shunned, dumped, booted, deep-sixed, cancelled”.
The trouble stemmed from Depp’s marriage to Heard in 2015, a union that ended a year later.
Heard claimed that Depp had abused her physically, leading to a Sun column in which Depp was labelled a “wife-beater”. Depp sued, and a judge ruled against him.
In 2022, Depp won a $15m (£11.3m) defamation suit against Heard over a column she had written in 2018 about violence in their relationship.
Depp’s damages were later reduced to $10.35m and Heard was also awarded $2m for her defamation counterclaim.
Bloom was speaking at the Fan Expo Chicago – Getty Images/Daniel Boczarski
Following that victory, Depp appeared at the Cannes film festival in 2023 to promote Jeanne du Barry, a French-language historical drama.
He has also been pictured with long, grey hair in filming for his Hollywood return in “Day Drinker”, where he stars alongside Penelope Cruz as a mysterious guest on a private yacht who finds himself entangled with a criminal.
The film is directed by Marc Webb, whose previous films include 500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man and recent box office flop Snow White.
Depp has also recently directed Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness, based on the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, which received a lukewarm reception from critics.
