Actor Johnny Depp was once the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.

It was hard to find a year in the 90s and 00s that didn’t have Depp involved. Now, the Hollywood landscape is altogether more Depp-less following years of domestic abuse disputes with his ex-wife Amber Heard–allegations that left both parties somewhat exiled from the big blockbuster movie biz.

So, while Disney may not be forking out $300 million to secure Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean 6, the House of Mouse did shell out circa $68 million for a seven-minute performance in the early days of their billion-dollar live-action franchise.

Johnny Depp and the big Disney payout

Credit: Columbia Pictures

Back in 2010, Johnny Depp starred as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Depp ending the decade with Disney was not surprising; the actor had starred in the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies (The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End) between 2003 and 2007, spawning one of the most memorable characters, Captain Jack Sparrow, in cinematic history. The success of Depp’s character surprised even Disney.

In Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which grossed an impressive $1 billion, Depp was joined by Mia Wasikowska as the titular Alice, Helena Bonham Carter, another Burton muse, as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Michael Sheen voiced the White Rabbit, with Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman bringing the Cheshire Cat and Caterpillar to life, respectively.

Johnny Depp and the big Disney payout

Back in 2010, Johnny Depp starred as the Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Depp ending the decade with Disney was not surprising; the actor had starred in the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies (The Curse of the Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End) between 2003 and 2007, spawning one of the most memorable characters, Captain Jack Sparrow, in cinematic history. The success of Depp’s character surprised even Disney.

In Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which grossed an impressive $1 billion, Depp was joined by Mia Wasikowska as the titular Alice, Helena Bonham Carter, another Burton muse, as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, and Matt Lucas as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Michael Sheen voiced the White Rabbit, with Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman bringing the Cheshire Cat and Caterpillar to life, respectively.

Credit: Disney

Alice in Wonderland was quite clearly an ensemble affair, but according to The Telegraph, Disney paid Johnny Depp a whopping £50 million (approx. $68 million) for his seven-minute performance in the live-action movie. The huge salary cemented Depp as one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood. The actor returned as the eccentric character in Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

It is unlikely that Disney will hand out another check that big for Depp in the near future. Following his libel trial loss in 2020 against News Group Newspapers LTD and the highly-publicized defamation trial in 2022, Depp’s chances of returning to the House of Mouse a relatively slim. However, after claiming he would not return to the company for $300 million, sources report that the Jack Sparrow star would now consider stepping back into his pirate boots for a potential sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Disney, though, remains “non-committal.”

Disney’s live-action machine

Even 14 years later, Disney’s live-action canon is still firing. This year, the prequel to The Lion King (2019), Mufasa: The Lion King (2019), will be released in movie theaters. Then, in the future, Disney fans can expect live-action adaptations of Moana (2025) starring Dwayne Johnson, as well as a third entry in the Maleficent series featuring Angelina Jolie as the titular fairy. Also on the slate are remakes of Bambi (1942), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), and Hercules (1997), among a variety of others.