Johnny Depp has a reputation as a fearless actor, routinely called the best of his generation. Sure, he's run through the standard-issue roles -- FBI agent, drug dealer, pirate -- but he never coasted on his matinee idol looks to become the next Richard Gere. He's also been a jailhouse transvestite; a bald, loopy Hunter S. Thompson; and a guy with huge scissors for hands.

But these days he isn't seeming so fearless. A flood of recent announcements don't show the artistic, adventurous side of Depp, but the company man. Looks like he's going to be doing a whole bunch of the same old thing.

The Sequel
Disney recently announced that he'll reprise his Keith Richards impersonation again for Pirates of the Caribbean 4. I know it's box office gold, but Depp's been snoozing through this role since about half way through the first one.

The Kind-of Sequel
He's also signed on for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, his seventh Burton film and their fourth "dark" and "edgy" version of somebody else's story, along with Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Sweeny Todd.

I'm a Burton fan, and Depp's almost always good in his films (fine, maybe not Sleepy Hollow), but this feels like they're both getting lazy. Burton's always had a distinctive style, but he used to break out of it from time to time -- Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Mars Attacks -- and now he seems to be in a rut, cranking out Tim Burton^TM versions of classic stories every couple of years.

The Other Kind-of Sequel
Depp is also set to star in an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's novel The Rum Diary for Bruce Robinson (famed for his cult classic Withnail and I). The gonzo writer's characters were always thinly veiled versions of himself, so basically Depp is playing Hunter S. Thompson -- just like he did for Terry Gilliam in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

The TV Remake
For those of you who getting ready to hit Send on your hate mail (I know, I know, he really is a great actor), here's a stunner: he also just made a deal with Disney to play Tonto. Yeah, "Me show you where pick up trail" Tonto, in the long awaited, must-see, finally our prayers have been answered remake of The Lone Ranger. With Jerry Bruckheimer, the Pirates of the Caribbean guy.

Fine, sometimes a remake is good. And (if you go back a ways) sometimes a Bruckheimer movie is good. But the last time these two things came together? Gone in 60 Seconds, starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, and her terrible hair.

The Other TV Remake
Variety recently reported that Depp will also be starring in a remake of Dark Shadows, the sixties vampire soap opera. So, who's directing? No official announcement yet, but the rumors are pointing to ... Tim Burton. (Granted, this could be pretty great.)

A fourquel, another Hunter Thompson impersonation, another Tim Burton fairytale, and not one but two remakes of television shows? Suddenly Johnny sounds more like, I don't know, John Travolta in the eighties. Depp is an amazingly talented actor who can have his pick of roles, and sure, we all need to make a buck. But Tonto? Really? Let's hope he turns this around before the press release for 21 Jump Street: The Next Class.

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