We’re seeing a lot of Johnny Depp lately. There's the Nov. 13 “Ebenezer,” a gothic reimagining of Charles' Dickens’ "A Christmas Carol."
Trailers are also out for “Day Drinker,” a thriller due next spring starring Depp as a mysterious passenger aboard a private yacht who becomes entangled with a bartender played by Madelyn Cline and a dangerous criminal figure portrayed by Penélope Cruz.
“I made a living out of misbehaving,” Depp, 63, says in the teaser, which has already been viewed 14 million times.
“You thought I was (expletive) done?” he menaces. “I'm done when I say I'm done.”
Depp says the lines in character, but many took note of how they applied to his own life and what he might be trying to tell the world. (“It’s good to be back,” he says as
Scrooge in the “Ebenezer” trailer.)
Less than five years ago, his return to a Hollywood blockbuster was uncertain at best and, at worst, an impossibility. Amid his bitter, highly publicized legal battles with ex-wife Amber Heard, his relationship with Disney and the “Pirates of the Carribean” franchise soured. Warner Bros. asked him to step down from his role in the final "Fantastic Beasts" film. By the time the couple’s defamation case was on display in a Virginia courtroom in 2022, Depp’s future as one of industry's favorite leading men was in doubt.
And yet ahead of the release of “Ebenezer,” his costars are lauding him. “He brings something unique to really everything he does,” Rupert Grint said in the promotional run-up. Added Sam Claflin: “There’s still a twinkle in his eye that only Johnny can bring.”
And Ian McKellan, one of Britain’s greats, said, “Johnny is giving a performance the likes of which you’ve never seen before, and that’s what you expect of Johnny Depp, isn’t it? He’s full of surprises.”
The comments are focused on his performance and come short of a total endorsement of his personal character, and yet it feels like a full embrace by Hollywood.
So how did Depp go from being “radioactive,”as one insider called him, to headlining multimillion-dollar productions again?
Multiple crisis PR experts spoke to USA TODAY to explain how Depp laid out a nearly flawless plan to rebuild his career. Says Sheeraz Hasan, a celebrity publicist and crisis management expert who’s spent more than two decades working in the industry, “I give it a top grade.”
Johnny Depp’s complicated past
In 2011, Johnny Depp was one of Hollywood's most bankable talents, reportedly earning a staggering $55 million to reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," the fourth installment in the swashbuckling franchise. But the actor, a beloved Gen X heartthrob who rose to fame in films like "Edward Scissorhands" and "Cry-Baby," would soon find himself on a downward slide.
By 2017, Depp was embroiled in alegal battle with his former business managers, whom he sued for $25 million, accusing them of fraud and financial mismanagement. The managers countersued, alleging that the actor's extravagant lifestyle – $2 million a month on luxury homes, $30,000 a month on wine, plus more on private jets, fine art, and other indulgences – was responsible for his financial troubles. The two sides reached a confidential settlement in 2018.
That same year, Depp was sued by a location manager who alleged the actor punched him on the set of "City of Lies" in 2017. The lawsuit was also settled, in 2022.
Also in the headlines about that time: Depp's relationship with Amber Heard, his co-star in “The Rum Diary.” The two were in committed relationships when they met, but after public separations they began dating and by 2014, were engaged. They married less than a year later then split in 2016, with their divorce being finalized in 2017.
Bombshell details of their relationship came out later, due to two lawsuits. The first was in the UK, where Depp unsuccessfully sued the publisher of The Sun for calling him "a wife beater." Then Depp filed a $50 million defamation suit against Heard. The two actors testified publicly in a brutally explicit six-week trial, which revealed lurid allegations of abuse on both sides, including choking, kicking, and hair pulling, not to mention a 2015 incident in which Depp lost the tip of his finger.
The jury ruled for Depp on three of his claims, and for Heard on one of her counterclaims, but the largest award went to Depp, with more than $10 million in total damages. Both sides appealed before finally reaching a settlement in December 2022, with Heard paying Depp $1 million, and Depp promising to give it to charity.
More powerful than the money: “The very controversy that threatened to end his career also appeared to strengthen his relationship with a significant part of his audience,” says Lauren Beeching, a crisis PR and reputation management specialist based in the U.K. “One of the biggest misconceptions about reputation is that you need everybody to like you again, because you don't. You just need enough people willing to support you and enough confidence from the people who can give you the opportunities.” Many of Depp’s fans were unwavering in their support.
People who stood by Depp through scandal
In addition to his fans, others continued their support of the star, including Dior. Depp first signed his Dior Sauvage fragrance deal with the French luxury fashion house in 2015; in 2023, after the trial, they renewed his contract for a reported $20 million, the largest in the brand’s history for a men’s fragrance.Beeching says it was a powerful signal that Depp remained commercially valuable. “It's a huge brand that's put their trust in him,” she says.
Meanwhile, as is often the case with carefully managed Hollywood comebacks, Depp largely stayed out of the spotlight, spending much of his time in the English countryside and London.Rather than publicly arguing that audiences should reconsider their opinions about him, Depp gave them new material to discuss through movies, music, or art. He took on the French period drama "Jeanne du Barry," playing King Louis XV, which opened the 2023 Cannes Film Festival (just days after the Dior deal was announced).
Standing ovations at the fest are the norm – his lasted 7 minutes.
He reunited with his band, Hollywood Vampires, with tour stops mostly in Europe. And Depp returned to directing for the first time in more than two decades with “Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness,” a film about Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, co-starring one of Hollywood’s greats, Al Pacino, who praised his longtime friend and collaborator. "He is a wild fella and he is very creative, and it was fun to work with him," Pacino said at the time. "It really was."
Hasan says the backing of respected industry figures can help transform the narrative surrounding a celebrity's career.
“Once an untouchable industry giant or highly respected director publicly endorses their character and casts them,” he says, “the narrative officially transforms from a scandal into an artistic comeback.”
The ‘Old Hollywood’ strategy that worked for Depp
The ruling in Depp’s favor in the U.S. case was critical, experts USA TODAY spoke to agree. His comeback seems to have been carefully “orchestrated,” Hasan says. Following the trial, Depp hired Matthew Hiltzik, an attorney who's known for handling high-profile crisis PR, and his firm Hiltzik Strategies, to help reshape his image; Hiltzik didn't respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. “The verdict gave him an opening, but every choice looks planned by a team," Hasan says. "Every step gave the public a fresh image of him as a working artist.”
That includes actual art. In October of 2024, he dropped an art exhibition in New York called “A Bunch of Stuff,” an “immersive” experience with decades of paintings, drawings and other personal artistic material. (He reprised it again in the UK in October 2026.)
These less splashy projects allowed Depp to gradually reestablish his bonafides as an actor and filmmaker – without really being grilled by the press. (Depp has yet to give any lengthy sit-down interviews for “Ebenezer.”) They also illustrate how, when it comes to reputation management, moving forward can be more effective than repeatedly revisiting a controversy.
“Sometimes the worst thing you can do is keep bringing people back to the very controversy you're trying to move forward from,” Beeching says.
Erica Dumas, a publicist and crisis manager who has worked across entertainment, music and politics, says the approach also reflects something missing from contemporary celebrity culture, where stars are expected to share nearly every aspect of their personal lives on social media.
Staying mum “is not only good strategy, but it’s old Hollywood,” Dumas says. “It’s original Hollywood, where we're not seeing A-listers and celebrities 24/7.”
That’s another advantage for Depp: Unlike a newer celebrity whose public identity may have been shaped largely by social media, he spent years building a career around memorable performances. Amid his legal battles, Depp had a Q score – a measurement of how favorably the public views a celebrity – of 24, down from 36, Puck reported. (Scores above 30 are considered very strong; any score above 20 is above average.) By 2026, it had climbed back to 27.
“If you think about all of his body of work, if you think about ‘Edward Scissorhands’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and all that he's done, it lives on forever," Dumas says.
That history, she argues, gives audiences something to reconnect with beyond the scandals in his personal life. While Depp's return to major studio productions doesn't mean those controversies have been forgotten, Dumas believes his filmography remains an important part of the calculation.
“Let the work do the talking,” Dumas says is often the motto. “In his case, I think it will.”
What audiences still love about Depp
Throughout his career, Depp has rarely relied on playing conventional leading men; he became a movie star by disappearing into eccentric, sometimes bizarre characters like Edward Scissorhands, Willy Wonka, the Mad Hatter and, most famously, Captain Jack Sparrow.
Ebenezer Scrooge is another larger-than-life literary character whose appearance, personality and peculiarities offer Depp an opportunity to transform himself.
For Beeching, the choice makes sense.
“Audiences aren't necessarily being asked to reconnect with Johnny Depp the person,” she says. “They're being invited to reconnect with the kind of characters and performances they’ve always associated with him.”
Viewers who grew up watching “Edward Scissorhands” or the “Pirates” films have decades of memories attached to his performances, and those feelings of familiarity and nostalgia can exist independently of their opinions about his personal life.
Why Paramount bet big
For all the discussion about Depp’s reputation, his return to major studio films may ultimately come down to a simpler calculation: Money.
Before his career became overshadowed by controversy, Depp was one of the most commercially successful stars. His portrayal of Jack Sparrow helped turn Disney's “Pirates of the Caribbean” into a global franchise that earned more than $4.5 billion at the box office.
He also headlined Tim Burton's “Alice in Wonderland,” which surpassed $1 billion worldwide, and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” which raked in $475 million.
“Fans and the public ask whether this person deserves another chance. Studio executives ask whether this person will make them money,” Hasan says.
Established actors bring advantages that can motivate studios to accept the potential reputational fallout associated with a controversial casting decision.
“A bankable star brings a ready-made fan base, easier financing, overseas sales and cheap marketing, and a hit pays off for years from streaming, sequels and merchandise,” he says.
Paramount Pictures is betting on Depp in a major way; the “Ebenezer” budget is rumored to be about $40 million, plus a hefty spend on marketing and distribution. (Depp is also betting on himself; his production company In.2Film is listed in the credits.) USA TODAY has reached out to Paramount for comment.
Sources familiar with the studio’s thinking tell USA TODAY that the audience’s hunger to see Depp back on the big screen is what drove the studio to work with him on “Ebenezer:” “Audiences still really love Johnny,” one said. “He’s known for his iconic characters, and this is just another example of a beloved character he’s making his own. This is what Johnny does best, and I think fans are excited to see him back in this capacity creating a new iconic character that will live in the pantheon of his great characters."
According to a 2026 study conducted by National Research Group, a global market research firm, Depp ranked seventh worldwide among actors audiences most wanted to see in a new theatrical release, with 4 percent of respondents naming him when asked to identify up to five performers who would make them most interested in seeing a movie in theaters. The findings suggest Depp remains a significant box-office draw internationally, despite having largely been absent from major theatrical releases in recent years.
The promotional roll out of "Ebenezer" has been social-media forward, and appears to be designed to help Depp avoid any references to the issues that swept him off the stage. He made a surprise appearance in character at Comic-Con in San Diego in July. Last week, he hosted a private, star-studded screening in New York City. Then on Nov. 9, he appeared in character at Bryant Park’s Christmas Market – a stunt practically designed to go viral, without him having to answer a single question.
The film will make its global premiere Monday, Nov. 9, at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London, with screenings the same day in New York City and Los Angeles, and tracking so far looks strong: Boxoffice Pro reports that the film is projected to earn between $25 million and $35 million domestically during its opening weekend, though other industry analysts are less optimistic.
Lionsgate also shows signs of a big investment in Depp as a leading man, given early promotions for "Day Drinker," which will have a nationwide release scheduled for March 2027. (Lionsgate didn’t respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.)
“Hollywood isn't a moral referee. It's making a commercial calculation,” says Beeching.
The risks of Johnny Depp’s return
If “Ebenezer” fails to meet box office expectations, Beeching doesn’t think it would necessarily spell the end of Depp’s Hollywood comeback. The actor’s decades-long career and devoted fan base give him room to withstand a disappointing release.But that doesn’t mean it’s all smooth sailing ahead. “Moving on from a controversy isn't always the same thing as taking accountability for it,” Beeching says.
Depp has not publicly addressed the trial since the settlement, nor has he indicated whether he has made any changes to his substance use, which he has spoken candidly about in the past. (Representatives for Depp didn’t return USA TODAY’s request for comment.) Another controversy involving credible allegations similar to what has made headlines would threaten any comeback, Beeching says. “The difficulty with reputational damage is that it never entirely disappears,” she says. “People might move on, but they don’t necessarily forget.”
“Hollywood," she adds, "can forgive a disappointing film fairly easily. Whether it would be as forgiving of another serious controversy is another question entirely.”
And though Depp didn’t overshare on social media, coverage of his trial against Heard generated nearly 1 billion YouTube views on the Law&Crime network alone, with more than 3.5 million people watching the livestream of the verdict. Younger viewers may recall that as much as his films.
“The true test will be if he's going to develop a new fan base with a new audience, with the next generation,” Dumas says.
Will Johnny Depp return to ‘Pirates of the Carribean’?
If “Ebenezer” proves to be a success (and audiences early reactions have been strong), it will pave the way for the ultimate full-circle moment, with Depp reprising his best-known role as Jack Sparrow.
Longtime “Pirates of the Caribbean” producer Jerry Bruckheimer recently confirmed his interest in working with Depp on another installment, telling Entertainment Weekly, "If he likes the way the part's written, I think he would do it.”
In early November, Depp told Entertainment Tonighthe’d happily connect with his old friend. “I’ll go to work with Bruckheimer tomorrow for anything,” he said. “If it’s Jerry, I trust him. We have deep friendship.” As for “Pirates,” he said, “the only involvement I really want to have, truly, is just to send them off on a better note.”
Nothing would underscore Depp’s rehabilitation in Hollywood quite like a return to Disney. (In 2022, the relationship seemed irrevocably broken. When asked in court, “if Disney came to you with $300 million and a million alpacas, nothing on this earth would get you to go back and work with Disney on a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film? Correct?” Depp confirmed, “That is true.”)
“The bottom line is he's a great talent, one of the best in Hollywood,” Dumas says. “Everybody has their own personal take on what happened, but you can't deny his talent.”
As for how Depp perceives all of this himself, his 2023 Cannes press conference for “Jeanne du Barry” is a good guide.
“I keep wondering about the word ‘comeback,’ because I didn’t go anywhere,” Depp said. “Maybe people stopped calling — out of whatever their fear was at the time — but I didn’t go nowhere. I’ve been sitting around. ‘Comeback’ is almost like I’m going to come out and do a tap dance — dance my best and hope you approve. That’s the notion. It’s a bizarre mystery.”
Krystie Lee Yandoli is a senior entertainment reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kyandoli@usatoday.com, and follow her on Instagram, Threads, and X.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Johnny Depp is making his big Hollywood comeback
