Come 2005 and it was time for a reunion with Tim Burton and oddly, after the weak Planet Of The Apes and half-baked Big Fish, on this occasion Burton needed Depp more than Depp needed Burton (Depp once said of Burton that the director had saved him from being "a loser, an outcast, just another piece of expendable Hollywood meat". Charlie And The Chocolate Factory was to be a non-musical take on Roald Dahl's classic, far darker than Gene Wilder's extraordinary Willy Wonka effort. Many were considered for the Wonka part — comedians likeSteve Martin and Robin Williams, and Burton's favourite screwballs Christopher Walken and Michael Keaton. But thankfully Depp won it, and brought along his own Charlie — Freddie Highmore, one of Kate Winslet's kids in Neverland, who'd impressed Depp with his otherworldly talents. Johnny's Sleepy Hollow co-star Christopher Lee would join in the fun, as would Burton's now-wife Helena Bonham Carter, with Depp's outstanding turn as a psycho child-man earning him another Golden Globe nomination. Lee and Bonham Carter would also join Depp in the director's next piece, provided voices for the animation The Corpse Bride, based on a Russian folk tale. Here Depp's character would be led into the underworld by a spooky Bonham Carter (she is surely the best spook in the business) whom he's accidentally married while his live fiancee Emily Watson waits at home. The second and third parts of the Pirates Of The Caribbean saga would be filmed back-to-back. The second would see Depp escaping cannibals, swordfighting on giant rolling mill-wheels and attempting to save his soul from Bill Nighy's monstrous Davy Jones. The third, where at one point he'd play multiple versions of Jack Sparrow, would have him fleeing both Jones and Tom Hollander's ruthless East India Company official. So popular had the first Pirates movie been that its sequels became cinematic events, massive money-spinners, with the third installment becoming the third biggest box office hit of all time.Never one to waste such freedom, Depp now offered to work alongside Benicio Del Toro in The Rum Diary, based on the work of Hunter Thompson, Depp and Del Toro having earlier enjoyed their working relationship on Thompson's Fear And Loathing. The movie would also serve as a tribute to Thompson. When he committed suicide in 2005, it was Depp who financed a lavish party and fireworks display that peaked with Thompson's remains being fired from a cannon. The project, though, would prove complicated, Del Toro dropping out and Bruce Robinson taking over as writer and director. There'd also be Shantaram, based on Gregory David Roberts' novel, which would see Depp star as a junkie robber who escapes jail and flees to India, where he works as a doctor in the slums before turning gun-runner and counterfeiter and fighting Russian troops in Afghanistan. Pre-production would again be a troubled affair, with intended director Peter Weir walking after disagreements with Depp. Это его биография
