Keep Johnny Depp away from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’

nypost.com:

won his never-ending defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, a rumor has surfaced on the website PopTopic that Disney, in its infinite Dis-dom, wants the actor to resume swashbuckling in more “Pirates of the Caribbean” films for an obscene $301 million.

A rep for Depp told NBC News Tuesday the report was “made up,” though the bedraggled team surely prefers headlines about possible contract negotiations to ones about the actor’s text messages promising the “global humiliation” of his former spouse.I, on the other hand, do not.Even if the Mouse House offers Depp a single gold doubloon to start flitting about as Captain Jack Sparrow again, this is a plan worthy of the poop deck.Legally, the actor is perfectly employable.

Depp had his day (well, his gajillion days) in court and came out victorious. The Court of Public Opinion can kvetch and moan all it wants, but it is not a replacement for the justice system.

What shivers me timbers is that Old Man Depp is no longer physically or artistically capable of starring in these movies. He should sooner be thrown in the Hollywood brig.When the first “Pirates” film was released — *takes a swig of pirate rum* — 19 years ago, Depp was a spry, sexy 40-year-old, who had only three years earlier played Juliette Binoche’s smoldering suitor in “Chocolat.”The actor, who often took on creepy parts in Tim Burton movies such as “Edward Scissorhands” and “Sleepy Hollow,” donned a pirate hat, slapped on a hilarious sense of humor and earned himself a Best Actor Oscar nomination.