Johnny Depp characters are no longer relevant enough

Johnny Depp's latest film 'Mortdecai' has failed to meet the minimum expectation at the box office, further eroding the star's once triumphant appeal to moviegoers.

The actor has played numerous memorable characters from Edward Scissorhands to Jack Sparrow in 'Pirates of the Caribbean', however his strange and unusual personalities have failed to attract big attention at theaters.

In recent years the actor has built a global fan base around the successful Pirates franchise, but other films such as 'The Rum Diary' and 'The Lone Ranger' have performed dismally.

The question remains, is Depp still relevant? I would say yes, but the audiences that were there for his classic films in the 90s are no longer there for him in big numbers today, and his fan base is now younger.

The Lone Ranger Trailer

VOD has begun to disrupt the market which could be a factor in the decline particularly for Depp as his characters are not well understood in the mainstream. This was particularly the case with 'The Lone Ranger' where a lot of people were uninterested in seeing a Native American warrior protagonist in an adventure movie, even if he was unusual and noteworthy.

Mortdecai Trailer

With films at the box office becoming more effects driven and family oriented, the sophisticated humor we see in Depp's recent films may be less marketable than ever before and without engagement, it's going to be a hard sell.

Audiences in the past few years have been battered by sequels, and falling standards in storytelling and their expectations have also been lowered. Bad reviews have certainly not given 'Mortdecai' a good appeal, but outside of that context, we're really looking at very specific characters that can no longer excite large audiences.