Soon, fans of Johnny Depp will have the opportunity to watch his first movie in three years.
On Wednesday, Vertical announced that it had acquired the North American distribution rights to Jane du BarryThe French-language film that opened the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and made Depp, 59, his first since his contentious defamation lawsuit with ex-wife Amber Heard.
The film received a preliminary release in France that coincided with its world premiere at the festival on May 17 and grossed $2.56 million in its first week at the French box office—the best decade for a film that opened the International Film Festival, according to a press release.
The film, written and directed by French director Maïwenn, stars Depp as Louis XV, King of France who ruled from September 1715 until his death in 1774. Maïwenn plays Jeanne Vaubernier, a high-end worker who uses her “charms to escape from her”. poor life. It ends with the charm of the King, who “rediscovers his appetite for life and feels he can no longer live without it” after their meeting, according to official notes.
“He made Jane his last official mistress,” reads the brief, and a scandal breaks out because no one at court would accept a street girl in his rare kingdom. »
Courtesy of Vertical
The film received mixed reviews from critics after its Cannes premiere last month, after which Depp was seen ripping a seven-minute standing ovation from the audience during the screening, a video clip of the event he shared. diverse on Twitter It arrives.
At a press conference for the film during the International Film Festival, the actor said he “thought it was very brave [director Maïwenn] Pick a Hillbilly from Kentucky” to take on the royal role, which required him to learn all his lines in French.
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“As if there was a horrible misspelling somewhere,” Depp said when asked about his thoughts on his casting in the French-language film. “Maïwenn we found ourselves in the wrong room at the same time. I felt no hesitation about the guy or the character and all that or the language of course, I didn’t find it particularly scary.”
“It’s like running through raindrops, but my question to Maïwenn when we first met was: ‘Maybe you want to try out a Frenchman as King Louis XV?'” Deb continued. “I thought about that for a second. “I thought about that, too,” I thought. “No, I want you to do that.” «»
“Yeah, I got in right away, and I wanted to do it. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t step out of my box and bring in someone else,” Depp continued in turn. “Getting into other people’s things, their culture, their ideas, their eccentricities. But I’m glad she kept it up and I’m glad I kept going. »
Maïwenn co-wrote the film with screenwriters Teddy-Lucy Modeste and Nicolas Levchy. Besides her and Depp, the film also stars French actors Benjamin Lavergne, Pierre Richard, Melville Poupaud and Pascal Gregory.
Jane du Barry It does not have a North American release date.
