Johnny DeppTable of Contents
has had a long and distinguished film career, but he has never received an Academy Award. This is quite shocking, given that the actor has played a variety of characters over the years and has expertly filled each one’s shoes.
Table of Contents
Johnny Depp stepped onto the big screen in 1984’s “Nightmare on Elm Street” and ever since then he’s been a staple on the small and the big screen starring in huge franchises, such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Alice in Wonderland”, and smaller cult films such as “Cry-Baby” (1990) and “Benny & Joon” (1993).
However, for all the great Depp movies, like “Ed Wood” (1994) and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?” (1993) there are just as many terrible(worst) ones. And of course, for every first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, there is a fourth (and maybe a fifth).
Almost all of these movies were originally based on books, television shows, comics, and even other movies, but their cheesy and sloppy plots, coupled with their ill-fated casting of Depp in lead roles, led to their demise.
Let us Know About ‘The 10 Worst Movies of Johnny Depp’:
1) Mortdecai (2015) – (IMDB Rating – 5.5)
Mortdecai is a 2015 American action comedy film directed by David Koepp and written by Eric Aronson. The film is adapted from the novel series Mortdecai written by Kyril Bonfiglioli. It stars Johnny Depp in the title role and also features Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Paul Bettany and Jeff Goldblum. Released by Lionsgate on January 23, 2015, Mortdecai was a box office bomb, grossing $47 million against its estimated $60 million budget, and was critically panned.
2) The Tourist (2010) – (IMDB Rating – 6.0)
The Tourist is a 2010 American romantic thriller film co-written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and starring Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Paul Bettany, and Timothy Dalton. It is a remake of the 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer. GK Films financed and produced the film, with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions releasing it in most countries through Columbia Pictures. The $100 million budget film went on to gross $278 million at the worldwide box office.
3) The Rum Diary (2011) – (IMDB Rating – 6.1)
The Rum Diary is a 2011 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Bruce Robinson, based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson. The film stars Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, and Giovanni Ribisi.
Filming began in Puerto Rico in March 2009 and was released on October 28, 2011. The film received mixed reviews and grossed just $30 million against its $45 million budget, making it a box office bomb.
4) Transcendence (2014) – (IMDB Rating – 6.2)
Transcendence is a 2014 American science fiction thriller film directed by Wally Pfister (in his directorial debut) and written by Jack Paglen. The film stars Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy and Cole Hauser, and follows a group of scientists who race to finish an artificial intelligence project while being targeted by a radical anti-technology organization.
Paglen’s screenplay was listed on the 2012 edition of The Black List, a list of popular unproduced screenplays in Hollywood. Transcendence was a box office flop, grossing just $103 million against a budget of as much as $150 million. The film received mainly negative reviews; it was criticized for its plot structure, characters and dialogue but praised for its cinematography, acting, and score.
5) Dark Shadows (2012) – (IMDB Rating – 6.2)
Dark Shadows is a 2012 American epic mystery dark fantasy black comedy film based on the gothic television soap opera of the same name. It was directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Bella Heathcote in a dual role. Christopher Lee has a small role in the film, his 200th film appearance and his fifth and final appearance in a Burton film, and Jonathan Frid, star of the original Dark Shadows series, makes a cameo, which was his final screen appearance, as he died shortly before the release of the film. One of the film’s producers was Richard D. Zanuck, who died two months after its release.
The film had a limited release on May 10, 2012, and was officially released the following day in North America. It performed poorly at the United States box office, but did well in foreign markets. Reviews for the film were mixed; critics praised its visual style and consistent humor, but felt it lacked a focused or substantial plot and developed characters.
6) Alice in Wonderland (2010) – (IMDB Rating – 6.4)
Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American dark fantasy film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars Mia Wasikowska in the title role, with Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, and Matt Lucas, while featuring the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, and Timothy Spall. A live-action adaptation and re-imagining of Lewis Carroll’s works, the film follows Alice Kingsleigh, a nineteen-year-old who accidentally falls down a rabbit hole, returns to Underland and alongside the Mad Hatter, helps restore the White Queen to her throne by fighting against the Red Queen and her Jabberwocky, a dragon-like creature that terrorizes Underland’s inhabitants.
7) The Lone Ranger (2013) – (IMDB Rating – 6.4)
The Lone Ranger is a 2013 American Western film directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. Based on the title character of the same name, the film stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, the narrator of the events and Armie Hammer as John Reid, the Lone Ranger. The story tells through Tonto’s memories of the duo’s earliest efforts to subdue local villainy and bring justice to the American Old West. William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, Ruth Wilson, James Badge Dale, Tom Wilkinson, Helena Bonham Carter, and Curtis Cregan are featured in supporting roles. This was the first theatrical film featuring the Lone Ranger and Tonto characters since William A. Fraker’s 1981 film, The Legend of the Lone Ranger.
8) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) – (IMDB Rating – 6.6)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 American fantasy swashbuckler film, the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and a standalone sequel to At World’s End (2007). It is the first film in the series not to be directed by Gore Verbinski, replaced by Rob Marshall. Jerry Bruckheimer again served as producer. In the film, which draws its plot loosely from the 1987 novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, the eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is forced into a shaky alliance with Angelica (Penélope Cruz), a mysterious woman from his past, as they embark on a quest for the Fountain of Youth, confronting the infamous pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and outrunning Jack’s old foe Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush).
9) The Ninth Gate (1999) – (IMDB Rating – 6.7)
The Ninth Gate is a 1999 neo-noir horror thriller film directed, produced, and co-written by Roman Polanski. An international co-production between the United States, Portugal, France, and Spain, the film is loosely based upon Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s 1993 novel The Club Dumas. The plot involves authenticating a rare and ancient book that purportedly contains a magical secret for summoning the Devil.
The premiere showing was at San Sebastián, Spain, on 25 August 1999, a month before the 47th San Sebastian International Film Festival. Though critically and commercially unsuccessful in North America, where reviewers compared it unfavorably with Polanski’s supernatural film Rosemary’s Baby (1968), The Ninth Gate earned a worldwide gross of $58.4 million against a $38 million budget.
10) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) – (IMDB Rating – 6.7)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 musical fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and written by John August, based on the 1964 British novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket, alongside David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle, James Fox, Deep Roy, and Christopher Lee. The storyline follows Charlie as he wins a contest along with four other children and is led by Wonka on a tour of his chocolate factory.
