Actor Johnny Depp will make his first appearance in movie theaters since his widely followed defamation trial with his ex-wife last year. He will open the Cannes Film Festival in his French-language portrayal of King Louis XV in the film Jeanne du Barry.
The Film
Jeanne du Barry, directed by Maiwenn Le Besco, is about the king’s famous mistress. The film, partially shot in the Versailles Palace, is produced by Paris-based Why Not Productions on a budget of EUR 20.6 million (about $22.4 million). The film received backing from streaming giant Netflix, which paid EUR 3 million (about $3.2 million) to stream the film. It is due to be released in French cinemas on Tuesday and will be streamed on Netflix in France starting next year.
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival is among the world’s most glamorous film festivals, attracting movie stars, billionaires, industry executives, paparazzi, and fans to the French Riviera. This year, the festival will run for two weeks, starting on Tuesday. Twenty-one films will compete for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest award, with entries stretching from Brazil to Senegal, and featuring directors including Wes Anderson, Wim Wenders and Ken Loach. Screenings of films not in line for the top prize include Jeanne du Barry as well as Walt Disney’s upcoming Indiana Jones and Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, produced by Apple.
Johnny Depp’s Role
Early reviews of Jeanne du Barry were mixed, with a critic from Le Figaro describing Depp as “struggling to hide his American accent” in the film. Depp was likely paid EUR 320,000 (about $347,000) for his role in the film, according to the film database, a fraction of what he made for starring in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The actor hasn’t signed for a new Hollywood project since the trial, but he recently renewed a deal to be the image of the Dior perfume for a record $20 million.
During a press conference on Monday, the head of the festival, Thierry Frémaux, said he was only interested in Depp as an actor, whom he found “extraordinary” in the part. Depp’s next cinema project will see him direct and co-produce Modi, a biopic of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani starring Al Pacino to be shot this fall in Budapest. The festival may be disrupted by protests over a pension reform passed by Emmanuel Macron’s government, with one of the leading unions in the country threatening to cut the electricity to interrupt the festival.
Leave a Reply