The opening picture for next month’s Cannes picture Festival in France has been announced as Johnny Depp’s first live-action production since his widely watched defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.
The French-language film “Jeanne du Barry” stars Maiwenn Le Besco as Jeanne Becu, a woman who rose from poverty to monarch Louis XV’s circles. Depp plays the monarch in the film, which will have its global debut at Cannes on May 16.
The “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor has made few film or TV appearances since his trial concluded in June 2022. He made surprise cameos at the MTV Video Music Awards and Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty fashion show.
Last month’s “Johnny Puff: Secret Mission” featured Depp as an animated puffin.
The actor is attempting to rehabilitate his career after gaining a near-total triumph in his court battle with fellow starlet Amber Heard, who accused him of abuse. Depp has denied ever hitting her or another woman.
Two years earlier, Depp lost a libel suit in Britain against the Sun tabloid, which called him a “wife beater.” A London High Court judge ruled that Depp had repeatedly assaulted Heard. He was soon dropped from “Harry Potter” spinoff franchise “Fantastic Beasts” and largely shunned by Hollywood.
