Lionsgate
His newest movie, "Mortdecai," flopped at the box office making just $4.1 million on an estimated $60 million budget.
Analyst predictions for the weekend suggested the film may make closer to $8.5 million.
The Lionsgate movie, featuring Depp as a mustachioed art dealer, received terrible reviews.
Disney's small cameo in "Into the Woods" aside, "Mortdecai" marks Depp's fifth box-office opening weekend bomb.
Depp's latest tentpole film, Warner Bros.' sci-fi "Transcendence," failed to connect with audiences over the summer and made just $23 million domestically after a $10.8 million opening weekend.
As a result, many have questioned Depp's ability as a lead man capable of drawing in a big audience anymore.
That isn't the issue, rather it's the roles he's been taking on as of late.
If his past few movies were for a franchise like "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "Alice in Wonderland," the conversation would be completely different. Both of those are huge money makers for Disney - the first "Alice" made over $1 billion at theaters - and Depp plays familiar bizarre characters that he has become known for on screen.
Here's a look at Depp's latest movie performances:
Movie | Opening Weekend | Domestic Box Office | Foreign Box Office | Estimated Budget |
"Mortdecai" | $4.1 million | $60 million | ||
"Transcendence" | $10.9 million | $23 million | $80 million | $100 million |
"The Lone Ranger" | $29.2 million | $89.3 million | $171.2 million | $215 million |
"Dark Shadows" | $29.7 million | $79.7 million | $165.8 million | $150 million |
"The Rum Diary" | $5.1 million | $13 million | $10.8 million | $45 million |
In three of the past movies listed above, Depp plays a pretty normal, looking guy ("Mortdecai," "Transcendence," "The Rum Diary"). Audiences are used to seeing Depp in bizarre roles. Still, "Dark Shadows" didn't perform as well as analysts thought it would at the box office.
The reason I broke up Depp's movies into domestic vs. foreign box office grosses instead of just worldwide grosses is to show how much more appeal the actor has with an overseas audience.
While Depp's audience has appeared to fade stateside, his movies still perform significantly well overseas.
Look at how much better "Dark Shadows" and "The Lone Ranger" performed overseas.
Depp's next movies include a few other potential misfires including "Yoga Hosers" described as a film about "two teenage yoga enthusiasts" who "team up with a man-hunter to battle with an ancient evil presence."
If all else fails, next year should start to turn things around for the actor when a sequel to 2010's "Alice in Wonderland" is released in theaters.
The following year, another "Pirates of the Caribbean" is set for release.