The Cannes Film Festival is giving a boost to Johnny Depp‘s attempted film industry comeback. Organizers announced today that Maïwenn‘s historical drama “Jeanne du Barry,” which features Depp as King Louis XV, will open the 76th edition of the famed festival on Tuesday, May 16. The film will also open in theaters across France on the same day.
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Maïwenn, whose acting roles include “High Tension” and her own directorial debut “Pardonnez-moi,” plays the title role, the woman who rose to be the King Louis XV’s last maîtresse-en-titre (chief royal mistress) before the French Revolution ended his reign. The film was acquired by Netflix but cannot play on the service in France for 15 months. It’s unclear when it will be released on the service globally.
This will be Maïwenn’s third directorial effort to appear at Cannes. In 2011, “Polisse” won the Grand Jury Prize. Four years later, she returned with “My King” which saw star Emmanuelle Bercot take the festival’s Best Actress honor.
This is Depp’s first film since 2020’s barely seen “Minamata.” He spent most of 2021 and 2022 in court battling his ex-wife, Amber Heard, in two defamation lawsuits. He lost a judgment in the U.K. and prevailed in a separate case in the United States. As both cases centered on charges of domestic abuse, Depp saw his Hollywood prospects dim as his character was recast in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise and reports suggest the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise has moved on without him. A three-time Oscar nominee, Depp has no other projects publicly on his slate at this time.
Cannes previously revealed that two highly anticipated films from American auteurs will have their world premieres on la Croisette this year, Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” It has also been reported that Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” will debut at the fest. The rest of the official selection for this year’s festival will be announced on Thursday, April 13.
It was also revealed that Ruben Östlund, who won the Palme d’Or last year for “Triangle of Sadness,” will be the president of this year’s competition jury.
The 76th Cannes Film Festival will run from Tuesday, May 16 to Saturday, May 27.