Despite having to pull out of some high-profile movie roles in the fallout of his ongoing legal battles with Amber Heard, a new Johnny Depp movie is reportedly going up for pre-sale at the Cannes Market this month. The film, which sees Depp starring as Louis XV opposite the movie’s director Maiwenn as Jeanne Du Barry, will be the first major feature film to be launched starring Depp for over three years and would mark a major milestone in the actor’s attempts to rebuild his career.
According to the report by Screen Daily, Jeanne Du Barry will “be freely inspired by the life of Jeanne Bécu, who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743, and went on to rise through the Court of Louis XV to become his last official mistress.” Along with Depp and Maiwenn, others involved in the film will be Louis Garrel, Pierre Richard and Noemie Lvovsky.
Johnny Depp’s last movie was Minamata, the story of American photographer W. Eugene Smith and his journey to Minamata in Japan to document the effect of mercury poisoning in coastal communities. The movie was filmed in early 2019 and received its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival in early 2020. The movie’s general release was initially delayed due to the arrival of the Covid pandemic, but director Andrew Levitas subsequently alleged that MGM then attempted to “bury the film” following the increasing public legal cases between Depp and Amber Heard. The film was finally released in February 2022.
Johnny Depp May Rely on Quieter Movies to Get Back Into Hollywood
Jeanne Du Barry does not come across as the type of big blockbuster movie that Johnny Depp has been greatly associated with until recent years. However, the subject matter will certainly capture the attention of some, while others will be drawn by Depp’s attachment, and director Maiwenn has a huge European following behind her. While Depp’s courtroom appearances continue, it is likely that this kind of under the radar movie is going to be extremely important for the actor to make until his libel case with Heard comes to a conclusion one way or the other.
With Depp’s last big role as Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts franchise being given to Mads Mikkelsen in the most recent film, and Depp’s sixth possible appearance in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise alleged to have been abandoned following Heard’s accusations against him, there is no doubt that to simply be acting is something that Depp will relish until the time comes that he can once again command big roles.
Depp completed his appearance on the stand in his $50 million libel case, and this week started off with the extraordinary occurrence of Heard seemingly attempting to have the whole case thrown out of court, something that the judge denied as long as there is a “scintilla of evidence” for the jury to look at. Public opinion certainly seems to be on Depp’s side so far as the case enters another week of accusations and evidence, which could include Heard herself taking the stand.