Rumor Debunked: Johnny Depp’s $56 million Salary For “Pirates 4″

Reports came out last week that Johnny Depp was going to receive an astronomical $56 million for reprising his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in a fourth installment of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. This seemed somewhat ridiculous, and Pirates writer Terry Rossio has officially debunked that rumor.

“For the record, none of the recent Pirates 4 rumors have any truth, including the so-called record 50 million dollar payday for Depp.” he said, as he added in denials of these other rumors you may have heard. “[It's] some pretty funny stuff, though. Sacha Cohen? Tim Burton? Studios are way too protective of their franchises for that sort of thing.”

The implication seems to be that they’re going to try and get Gore Verbinski back in the director’s chair instead of risking a new direction, but the notion that people as established as Burton and Cohen would pose some kind of danger doesn’t seem to hold water.