“It’s a hell of a lot of money for one movie but there’s only one man who can play Captain Jack Sparrow – and that’s Johnny Depp.”

“Pirates just wouldn’t be the same without him, so they were more than willing to smash the record books to land Depp again. He’s been the star of the show every time.”

According to the Chicago Sun-Times,is lobbied hardcore to getto reprise his role ofin the upcoming “” . In order to woo Johnny back into Capt. Jack’s boots, Disney reportedly offered a booty of $55 million dollars which, the report states, he gladly accepted making Depp the highest paid actor in Hollywood A source said:Thanks to his latest deal with Disney, Johnny Depp has leapfrogged pastto become the top-earning star in Hollywood. According to, Smith was last year’s top earner – taking home an estimated $80 million overall. Depp already was No. 2, at $72 million, but now the actor will clearly move into the lead. According to a Disney source who spoke to this column, Depp’s agreement to make a fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film, star as Tonto in the new big-screen “” and portray the Mad Hatter in director‘s new “” will put the popular star on top.It’s mainly because Depp will also get the biggest-ever paycheck for an individual film: a reported $55 million for the next “Pirates” flick. That surpasses the previous top earner,(at $49 million), for the upcoming “,” based on Dan Brown’s novel. Before that,held the record for an individual film – $39 million paid for “” back in 1996. That film’s less-than-blockbuster performance led to a big re-evaluation in Hollywood about the skyrocketing paychecks for major stars.now reportedly gets a not-too-shabby $29 million per picture (largely thanks to the “Bourne” films’ successes),commands between $20 million and $24 million per picture andgets up to $30 million.