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After her camp refused to confirm or deny the report, on Sunday (US time), Sweeney tweeted a response that was ambiguous enough to fuel a thousand stories.
“Woke up to rumours,” she wrote. “Anyways, go see @ImmaculateMovie in theatres this weekend!”
That single word “rumours” was enough to have some outlets rushing to assert that Sweeney had “denied” the story.
“Sydney Sweeney shuts down reports that she will star in a new movie with Johnny Depp,” claimed Entertainment Weekly.
“Sydney Sweeney isn’t starring in Johnny Depp’s Day Drinker,” claimed Vulture.
Johnny Depp at the premiere of Jeanne du Barry in Cannes last May.Credit: John Phillips
“Sydney Sweeney and co debunk Johnny Depp movie team-up rumour,” claimed TMZ.
Did she, though?
While Sneider doubled down on his reporting, claiming the denials were simply sour grapes because he had taken the heat out of a planned announcement at the Cannes film festival next month, the only thing that was clear about the rumour, and the “rumour” response, was that it had struck a nerve.
As the strategic leaking of images and swirl of gossip from the Sydney set of Anyone But You last year suggested, Sweeney isn’t afraid of a little internet baiting if it helps raise her profile, her bankability, and public interest in seeing her latest movie (one in which, as a producer, she has more than a passing pecuniary interest).
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And it worked: despite middling reviews, the romantic comedy has taken more than $US216 million globally, and spent nine weeks in the top 10 at the US box office; in Australia it has taken almost $23 million since its release on Boxing Day, and has outperformed every movie this year bar Dune: Part Two.
As for Depp, any hint of a resurrection for his career would surely come as a very welcome miracle, at Easter or any other time of the year.
French historical drama Jeanne du Barry, which debuted at Cannes last May, will soon have a limited release in Australian cinemas. But while Pirates of the Caribbean is to set sail again, there’s no guarantee Captain Jack Sparrow will be aboard the sixth voyage of the franchise that made Depp one of the best-paid actors on the planet.
Speaking last week, producer Jerry Bruckheimer said: “We’re gonna reboot Pirates so that it is easier to put together because you don’t have to wait for certain actors.”