Johnny Depp hasn’t appeared in too many franchises, but one 2015 flop looked like it could be his next Pirates of the Caribbean. Aside from his most famous role as Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp has also appeared in the Fantastic Beasts franchise as Grindelwald and two of Disney’s live-action Alice in Wonderland movies as the Mad Hatter.

The majority of Johnny Depp’s best movies have been standalone films like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands. He seems to prefer trying new things to playing the same characters over and over again, and he’s known for taking some big swings with his performances.

Mortdecai Was A Huge Missed Opportunity For Johnny Depp

Mortdecai Had All The Ingredients To Succeed

2015’s Mortdecai should have been Depp’s replacement for his role in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but the crime comedy was a disappointing flop. It currently has a score of just 12% on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences only slightly more generous, giving it a Popcornmeter score of 31%. Mortdecai also failed to recoup its $60 million budget at the box office.

Mortdecai is a contender for the тιтle of Depp’s worst movie, but it didn’t have to be this way. The story is based on a popular comedic novel by Kyril Bonfiglioli, and Mortdecai could have succeeded if it had stuck to the framework of the novel more closely. The movie makes plenty of big changes.

While Depp’s eccentric, over-the-top performance as cunning art dealer Charlie Mortdecai has been criticized, Paul Bettany is also woefully miscast as his tough sidekick Jock. Mortdecai and Jock are a hilarious duo on the page, but their dynamic never works in the movie.

Mortdecai makes plenty of other big changes to Bonfiglioli’s work, most of which are misguided in some way. The story attempts to smash together elements of different novels, which means that it lacks cohesion and drive. This, coupled with the decision to pluck Mortdecai from his early ’70s setting and drop him in the 21st century, makes for a muddled adaptation.

Kyril Bonfiglioli’s Books Prove Mortdecai Could Have Been Johnny Depp’s Next Big Franchise

Bonfiglioli’s Novels Have Missed Their SH๏τ At Becoming A Hollywood Franchise

If Mortdecai had attempted to make a more faithful adaptation of the first book in Bonfiglioli’s series, Don’t Point that Thing at Me, a lot of its self-imposed problems would have been solved. This also would have set Mortdecai up as the start of a potential series for Depp. With his role in Pirates of the Caribbean 6 still up in the air, it’s unclear if he’ll ever get another big franchise.

The Mortdecai series consists of five books, including one prequel that follows one of Charlie’s ancestors. Depp’s performance might not have gone over well with critics, but his casting wasn’t a bad choice by any means. If things had played out slightly differently, he could have been a great Charlie, and he could have had a long and successful franchise with Mortdecai.