Broadcast on M6 this Friday, April 5, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge” was not a cakewalk for the film crews. Johnny Depp's escapades have a lot to do with it...
Viewers can dive back into the Pirates of the Caribbean 5 franchise tonight. M6 broadcasts the fifth episode of the saga, entitled Salazar’s Revenge, this Friday April 5, 2024 at 9:10 p.m. This is the last part with Johnny Depp, in the guise of Captain Jack Sparrow since 2017. In this film, our hero sees the ghosts of the past catching up with him and sets off in search of Poseidon's Trident alongside Will's son and Elizabeth Turner, in order to defeat Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem).
Since this fifth episode, the franchise seems to be at a standstill, with the beginnings of sequel projects, but no film in seven years. It must be said that filming Pirates of the Caribbean 5 was particularly difficult for the teams. In question, the main actor himself, who was deemed “unmanageable” by the people who worked on the feature film. According to the Hollywood Reporter, crew members complained of "excessive drunkenness" and "constant delays on set," "regularly leaving hundreds of extras waiting for hours." Sean Bailey, head of production at Disney, notably suggested that there were "days where planned plans were put to the test".
Johnny Depp put the teams on edge so much that the production had to act by placing men in hiding in front of the actor's rental in Australia, to alert the team when the lights were on and the actor finally woke up. “Everyone watched the boat sink without taking responsibility,” describes an anonymous source close to the production, before adding: “But when Johnny arrived on set, he was charming and kind. It was the yin and the yang.”
Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, publicly defended Johnny Depp against the accusations, deploring the "pressure" the actor was under at the time, while he was in the middle of a divorce from Amber Heard and made the front pages of the tabloids. Rumors suggest that an incident even occurred between the producer and Johnny Depp's agent, where each blamed the actor on the other, but Jerry Bruckheimer publicly denied it.
The rest of the production of this fifth episode of Pirates of the Caribbean was not a smooth ride either. During filming in Australia, animal rights groups pointed out the importation of primates to play the role of Captain Barbossa. Furthermore, Johnny Depp seriously injured his hand and had to be repatriated to the United States for surgery, causing several weeks of interruption. A man dressed as a pirate even entered the set and threatened a security guard with a knife. We can understand that a sixth film is in question!
