Johnny Depp will make his long-awaited comeback to the big screen at this year's Cannes Film Festival, portraying King Louis XV in his first film appearance since his high-profile defamation trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard last year. The festival, which runs for two weeks in the South of France, will open on Tuesday with the premiere of Jeanne du Barry, a French-language film about the king's famous mistress. Directed by Maiwenn Le Besco, who also stars in the film, Jeanne du Barry received some financial backing from Netflix and is set to be streamed on the platform in France next year.
The Cannes Film Festival is known for drawing some of the biggest movie stars, industry executives, billionaires, fans, and paparazzi to the French Riviera for premieres and to haggle over worldwide movie rights at the concurrent film market. This year, 21 films will compete for the festival's highest award, the Palme d'Or, with entries from countries such as Brazil and Senegal and directors including Wes Anderson, Wim Wenders, and Ken Loach. Some of the other films to be screened at the festival include Walt Disney Co.'s upcoming Indiana Jones and Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, produced by Apple Inc.
Jeanne du Barry, which will be released in French cinemas on Tuesday, was produced by Paris-based Why Not Productions on a budget of €20.6 million ($22.4 million), with Netflix paying €3 million to stream the film. Although Depp's early reviews for the film, which was partly shot in the Versailles Palace, were mixed, critics praised it as a lavish period piece. Depp reportedly earned €320,000 for his role in the film, a fraction of what he made for starring in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Le Besco, who has directed critically acclaimed films such as Polisse and Mon Roi, said she approached Depp for the part before his trial with Heard and did not hesitate to keep him for the role afterward. During a press conference on Monday, the head of the festival, Thierry Frémaux, praised 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, which is set to be shot this fall in Budapest.
This year's festival could 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. Despite this, the Cannes Film Festival remains one of the world's most glamorous events, attracting global attention and showcasing some of the year's most highly anticipated films.