Explosive new claims detail Johnny Depp’s dramas during Pirates of the Caribbean Gold Coast shoot

PIRATES 5 staffers have spilled the beans on wayward star Johnny Depp’s troubled Gold Coast shoot, detailing the measures the film’s producers took to keep cameras rolling on the Hollywood blockbuster.

A PIRATES 5 production staffer was stationed outside Mick Doohan’s Gold Coast compound to alert the film’s directors when Johnny Depp woke up so crew could prepare for filming, an explosive new report claims.

As Walt Disney Studios prepares for the premiere of the highly-anticipated Coast-filmed blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on May 25 (Australian time), Depp’s wayward behaviour during the six-month shoot have been documented in an article in US movie, TV and entertainment trade publication The Hollywood Reporter.

Mick Doohan's Coomera property, where Johnny Depp stayed while he filmed Piratres of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales on the Gold Coast. Picture: David Clark

DEPP WAS UNDER 24-HOUR CARE RECOVERING FROM INJURY

The report says production sources reported tales of excessive drinking, physical fights between Depp and his then-wife Amber Heard and constant lateness on set, which often left hundreds of extras waiting for hours.

Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp on deck on one of the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales sets at The Spit, on the Gold Coast. Picture: Regi Varghese

“Time and again, Bruckheimer, an assistant director and a flotilla of Disney executives led by production chief Sean Bailey were forced to huddle and debate how to handle their star’s tardiness,” the report says.

“He’s not a morning person,” a source told the publication.

The report claims production staff raised Depp’s tardiness with the actor both on set and in his trailer to get him to toe the line.

DEPP BATTLED TO STAY AFLOAT DURING PIRATES FILMING
It says a ‘sentinel’ was stationed outside Depp’s temporary base at Doohan’s sprawling home at Coomera in an unmarked car to “alert everyone the second a light was switched on in the morning (or afternoon)”.

The sprawling Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales set at Maudsland on the Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

WORKERS STOOD DOWN AS DEPP RECOVERS

“When he (Depp) got up, he’d turn on the light, and the moment the light went on they’d call the line producer, who would then call the directors (Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg): ‘He’s up! He’s getting ready!’” an onset source told the publication.

“They even had a special code term, like ‘The eagle has landed.’ Johnny had no idea this was going on.”

US actor Johnny Depp (right) and his longtime bodyguard Jerry Judge on the Gold Coast. Picture: AFP/Patrick Hamilton.

STATE EMBROILED IN LEGAL FIGHT OVER PIRATES BOOTY

The report says Depp’s lateness and alleged heavy drinking caused enough concern that his then-agent, Depp’s former long-time agent Tracey Jacobs, from United Talent Agency, argued with Bruckheimer on the film’s Helensvale set one day as they waited for the wayward star.

“She went over to Jerry and said, ‘You’ve got to do something! You’re the producer,’ “ a production source says.

“He said, ‘You do something. You’re the agent.’ “ (Bruckheimer denies the incident occurred.) “Everyone was an innocent bystander watching this train wreck,” the source says.

“But when Johnny came on set, he was charming, nice. He’s yin and yang.”

DEPP DELIVERS PARTING SHOT

Disney executive and Pirates 5 production chief Sean Bailey also watered down the claims.

“There were certainly days when our plans were challenged but no one should underestimate Johnny’s passion and commitment to this character and franchise.”

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales opens in Australia on May 25.