Opinion – Johnny Depp’s 4th Pirates Flick to make him $38m minimum!!

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Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow....

Came across this news article online today, which stated that Johnny Depp has accepted a deal to star in the 4th Pirates Of The Caribbean film, On Stranger Tides. The tone of the article suggested that this figure is grossly disproportionate to what the film would be worth, and I have to say, I disagree strongly.

Johnny Depp’s name alone will draw in a profit for this film, although this might prove invalid if the film does poorly, considering teen-scream heartthrob Orlando Bloom, and female co-star Keira Knightley will not be reprising their roles this time around. The lure of Orlando was thought to have propelled the original Pirates film to success, although in recent times, the series has focused more on Depp than anything else.

While many may scream that this is an outrageous amount of money to throw at somebody to accept a role, it goes without saying that the film will make buckets, and so, Depp should stand to reap the reward for his effort. I don’t deny that perhaps the best part of that salary would be better served to feed the poor or some other noble cause, but since we live in a world of commercial gain and demand vs cost, then I am not surprised. However, should the film tank, then that will be a different story.

Unfortunately, too much emphasis is placed on how much a film cost to make, or how overpaid the stars were, or other nonsense, which often detracts from how good or bad the film actually is. Remember Waterworld? People wrote the film off even before it’s release due to the fact the film cost the best part of a squillion dollars to make due to sets being destroyed, re-shoots, and other stuff like that. And Titanic, which cost half a billion dollars (at the time) to make and market? Okay, so my Waterworld argument doesn’t hold water (ha!) but just because a film costs a bazillion dollars, doesn’t automatically make it a crap film. And just because Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise or Johnny Depp can command that kind of price range for a film doesn’t make them any less competent actors.

So before we judge whether Depps price tag for Pirates 4 is worthwhile, lets actually see the film first!

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