Johnny Depp is gearing up for his big-screen comeback in the upcoming edition of the Cannes Film Festival as the co-star of its opening film Jeanne du Barry on May 16. Watch a subtitled version of the French trailer above.
The actor stars in the period romance as Louis XV opposite actress and filmmaker Maïwenn, who plays the titular 18th courtesan and also directs.
The French-language role marks Depp’s first big screen appearance in three years as he rebuilds his career after winning a turbulent defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard last June.
His last feature film appearance was in W. Eugene Smith biopic Minimata.
Distributor Le Pacte, which will launch the film in cinemas in France at the same time as its red carpet world premiere, dropped a French language trailer last week and Deadline has obtained a subtitled version.
The first images promise a sumptuous drama told through the female gaze of an outsider navigating the vicissitudes of the Court of Versailles.
The film is freely inspired by the life of Jeanne du Barry, Louis XV’s last royal mistress at the Court of Versailles, a lowly-born woman who used her intelligence and allure to rise up society, ruffling establishment feathers along the way.
Maïwenn also co-wrote the drama with Teddy Lussi-Modeste and Nicolas Livecchi. It is her sixth feature and most ambitious work to date, after 2011 Cannes Jury Prize winner Polisse and more recent titles Mon Roi and DNA.
The film is produced by Why Not Production Company’s Pascal Caucheteux and Grégoire Sorlat, Johnny Depp’s production company IN.2, La Petite Reine and France Télévisions.
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival is on board as executive producers, and Goodfellas (ex-Wild Bunch International) is the international sales agent.
