He's made a couple of films with some popular indie directors/artists, and his quirky performances flag him as being an "artistic actor," but look at his resume.

How did he begin? Like many other young actors, with horror movies (Nightmare on Elm Street), teen romps (Private Resort) and TV roles (21 Jump Street). I'm not hating on him for that-- it's what nearly all young actors do. But it doesn't make his performance in Cry Baby, the John Waters film, a tally for an artistic career... nearly every teen actor who did horror and TV has some sort of indie flick following it, as a desperate cry for credibility.

Tim Burton? He started making Tim Burton movies after Burton was already in charge of the Batman franchise. Does that make Edward Scissorhands or Ed Wood bad movies, or does it make them obvious ploys for commercial success? No, of course not. They're great movies, and they're very strange. But I don't think one can say that Depp doing Burton films, following Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, and Batman, makes him an actor in pursuit of great art.

How did he follow up Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man? With Nick of Time, which is a run-of-the-mill Hollywood thriller.

How did he follow Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate (which is a truly terrible film)? With The Astronaut's Wife, an abysmal sci-fi horror/thriller, and a Tim Burton so-so remake of Sleepy Hollow.

How did he follow Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls? With Chocolat, the most obvious and schmaltzy Oscar bait I've ever seen. Charming enough, but as commercial as cherry pie.

How did he follow The Hughes Bros' From Hell? With a big-budget action flick based on a Disney ride.

How did he follow The Libertine? With a remake of one of the most beloved kids' flicks and books of all time.

In fact, the bigger his star gets, the more commercial he becomes. It's not that he's NOW losing artistic integrity, it's that he never had it in the first place. WHICH IS FINE-- many actors do one risky indie and follow it with a bigger paycheck and a more Hollywood output. It's fine, and he's a talented actor, and his career is successful, so bully for him. It's just that the "artsy Depp" side gets overplayed because he's an actor with a lot of quirks and he stays out of the paparazzi Hollywood spotlight in real life. Moving away from LA= INSTANT ARTSY FART CRED.

The rest of your argument, I'll leave to you. Producing a best-selling novel isn't EXACTLY the farthest departure from the mainstream one could take. Which is fine-- he's the biggest actor in the world, it's great that he's even taking an interest in tender material with a lower budget. But then again, Smith has never been given the label of "artistic integrity" like Depp has.