Tim Burtonhas addressed the prospect of reuniting with his frequent muse Johnny Depp in a new movie. The iconic director, whose debut feature was 1985’sPee-Wee’s Big Adventure, has used thePirates of the Caribbeanstar in many of his productions, generally playing exaggerated characters that require a great deal of makeup. The eight-movie roster ofJohnny Depp and Tim Burton collaborationsincludes 1990’sEdward Scissorhands, 2010’sAlice in Wonderland, 2005’sCharlie and the Chocolate Factory, 1994’sEd Wood, and 2007’sSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, though Burton has not directed Depp since 2012’sDark Shadows.
Tim Burton recently spoke withIndieWireon the red carpet at the Marrakech International Film Festival. When discussing the prospect of working with Depp again, he stated that he does not start a project with the intention of working with any particular actor, instead using actors to fit the needs of the story. To that end, he said that"I’m sure there will be" another opportunity for him to work with Depp, though there seems to be no specific project that he has in mind. Read Burton’s full quote below:
Well, I’m sure there will be. I never feel like, oh, I’m going to use this and that actor. It usually has to be based on the project I’m working on. That’s what film is all about. It’s collaboration and bouncing ideas off the people around you.
What This Means For Future Tim Burton Movies
The Director Has Clarified His Position On Depp
Overall, it does not necessarily seem that Burton’s casting is as unbiased as he stated in his comments, considering how frequently he has cast the same actors across his filmography. For instance,he made seven movies with his former wife,two-time Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter, between 2001 and 2012 before their divorce in 2014. Additionally, his current wife, Monica Bellucci, appeared in 2024’sBeetlejuice Beetlejuice, the first movie he made after their relationship began.
Helena Bonham Carter’s first Tim Burton movie wasPlanet of the Apesand her last wasDark Shadows.
However, Burton’s recent comments seem to reveal that his potential collaborations with theEdward Scissorhandsstar have not been affected by the recentJohnny Depp controversy.Depp and his former wife Amber Heard were embroiled in a yearslong legal battleafter she filed for divorce, accusing him of physical and verbal abuse, while he later sued her for defamation in response to a 2018 op-ed piece. Both Depp and Heard have had limited roles in major feature films since 2018, though in June 2022, Depp won the defamation suit, the jury having determined that there was insufficient evidence of abuse.
Our Take On Tim Burton’s Johnny Depp Comments
A New Collaboration May Not Happen
WhileTim Burtonhas not denied that there will be another collaboration between himself and Johnny Depp, their reunion may still be unlikely.The director seems to have found a new onscreen muse in Jenna Ortega, who he directed for the first time in the 2022 Netflix seriesWednesdayand with whom he immediately reunited in his next directorial project,Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. While it remains to be seen if he and Ortega work together again outside ofWednesday, she may be his key inspiration for many projects moving forward.
Source:IndieWire
Tim Burton
Discover the latest news and filmography for Tim Burton, known for Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
