- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
Can Depp's career bounce back with defamation verdict?
After a US jury largely sided with Johnny Depp in his libel battle against Amber Heard, could the verdict help the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star to resurrect his flagging career?
A jubilant Depp on Wednesday said the jury "gave me my life back" as he was awarded more than $10 million in damages for defamation, in contrast to just $2 million for his ex-wife, who had counter-sued.
Central to the high-profile trial were testimonies from Hollywood agents, accountants and lawyers, who were asked to assess whether the former couple had derailed one another's careers.
Jurors heard from Depp's side that he had lost a $22.5 million payday for a sixth "Pirates" film due to Heard's claims of abuse.
But Heard's legal team introduced witnesses who said her ex-husband's star was already losing its luster due to "unprofessional behavior" which included drinking and drug use.
"The damage that's done is done, and from this it might start a process back to some sort of normalcy," said a Hollywood producer who has worked with Depp in the past, but asked not to be identified.
"But I don't think he's going to get big, big, big studio jobs where there's so much on the line.
"If he's throwing bottles and taking drugs, and he's late, they're not gonna put up with the tardiness that costs a boatload of money for somebody who isn't a shining star any longer."
Major Hollywood studios may find it difficult to get insurance for mega-budget productions featuring Depp, the producer added.
"It's too risky to put a guy like that into billion-dollar franchises now," they said.
Similarly, while jurors and social media opinion may have swayed in Depp's direction during the trial, that is no guarantor that his box office appeal will return, particularly among women.
"The things he said are vile," said the producer, pointing to text messages introduced during the trial, which featured Depp calling Heard an "idiot cow" and talking about her "rotting corpse."
- 'Bad boy' -
Of course, while not directly comparable, Hollywood titans from Marlon Brando to Mel Gibson have enjoyed massive box office success after seismic controversies.
"I think there are studios that will be willing to work with him at this point," said Karen North, a University of Southern California professor specializing in reputation management.
Despite a string of recent flops, "he's almost always been very good for the box office," she said, noting that Depp is "as much in the public eye now as he ever has been because of the trial."
While a comeback from lurid accounts of alcohol- and drug-fueled binges could be problematic for someone with a more clean-cut image, Depp "has never said that he was a mild-mannered do-gooder."
"When somebody is a bit of a bad boy... when they're accused of doing something that involves being volatile, people say, 'Well, I'm not surprised -- it doesn't change who I think that person is.'"
"I think Johnny Depp is gonna come back personally, it makes sense," said North.
"That's assuming that he wants to, right? He has a lot of choices."
Depp spent the days before the verdict playing rock concerts in England with guitarist Jeff Beck, potentially demonstrating his interest are broader than a silver-screen comeback.
- 'French films' -
And if he were to return to the big screen, it would not necessarily need to be in glitzy Hollywood.
"He could become an indie darling, where the shoots are six to eight weeks, the payment is $250,000, and he gets 25 percent of the ownership of the movie, or something like that," said the producer who worked with Depp.
"And he could get nominated for some cool little role where the stakes aren't so high, and the budget's a couple million bucks, and he blows people away with some crazy performance."
And failing that?
"He'll work in Europe. I mean, they don't care about this kind of thing," said the producer.
"He'll make French films. He'll make German films."
P.Mathewson--AMWN