After the decision, Johnny Depp stated the jury “gave me my life again”. (File)
Lon Angeles:
After a US jury largely sided with Johnny Depp in his libel battle in opposition to Amber Heard, may the decision assist the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star to resurrect his flagging profession?
A jubilant Depp on Wednesday stated the jury “gave me my life again” as he was awarded greater than $10 million in damages for defamation, in distinction to only $2 million for his ex-wife, who had counter-sued.
Central to the high-profile trial have been testimonies from Hollywood brokers, accountants and legal professionals, who have been requested to evaluate whether or not the previous couple had derailed each other’s careers.
Jurors heard from Depp’s facet that he had misplaced a $22.5 million payday for a sixth “Pirates” movie attributable to Heard’s claims of abuse.
However Heard’s authorized workforce launched witnesses who stated her ex-husband’s star was already dropping its luster attributable to “unprofessional habits” which included consuming and drug use.
“The harm that is accomplished is completed, and from this it would begin a course of again to some kind of normalcy,” stated a Hollywood producer who has labored with Depp previously, however requested to not be recognized.
“However I do not assume he will get large, large, large studio jobs the place there’s a lot on the road.
“If he is throwing bottles and taking medicine, and he is late, they don’t seem to be gonna put up with the tardiness that prices a boatload of cash for someone who is not a shining star any longer.”
Main Hollywood studios could discover it troublesome to get insurance coverage for mega-budget productions that includes Depp, the producer added.
“It is too dangerous to place a man like that into billion-dollar franchises now,” they stated.
Equally, whereas jurors and social media opinion could have swayed in Depp’s path in the course of the trial, that’s no guarantor that his field workplace attraction will return, significantly amongst ladies.
“The issues he stated are vile,” stated the producer, pointing to textual content messages launched in the course of the trial, which featured Depp calling Heard an “fool cow” and speaking about her “rotting corpse.”
‘Dangerous boy’
After all, whereas circuitously comparable, Hollywood titans from Marlon Brando to Mel Gibson have loved huge field workplace success after seismic controversies.
“I believe there are studios that will probably be prepared to work with him at this level,” stated Karen North, a College of Southern California professor specializing in fame administration.
Regardless of a string of latest flops, “he is virtually all the time been superb for the field workplace,” she stated, noting that Depp is “as a lot within the public eye now as he ever has been due to the trial.”
Whereas a comeback from lurid accounts of alcohol- and drug-fueled binges could possibly be problematic for somebody with a extra clean-cut picture, Depp “has by no means stated that he was a mild-mannered do-gooder.”
“When someone is a little bit of a nasty boy… once they’re accused of doing one thing that includes being risky, individuals say, ‘Nicely, I am not stunned — it does not change who I believe that particular person is.'”
“I believe Johnny Depp is gonna come again personally, it is sensible,” stated North.
“That is assuming that he desires to, proper? He has a number of decisions.”
Depp spent the times earlier than the decision taking part in rock concert events in England with guitarist Jeff Beck, probably demonstrating his curiosity are broader than a silver-screen comeback.
‘French movies’
And if he have been to return to the large display, it might not essentially have to be in glitzy Hollywood.
“He may develop into an indie darling, the place the shoots are six to eight weeks, the cost is $250,000, and he will get 25 p.c of the possession of the film, or one thing like that,” stated the producer who labored with Depp.
“And he may get nominated for some cool little position the place the stakes aren’t so excessive, and the finances’s a pair million bucks, and he blows individuals away with some loopy efficiency.”
And failing that?
“He’ll work in Europe. I imply, they do not care about this type of factor,” stated the producer.
“He’ll make French movies. He’ll make German movies.”
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
