Following his defamation trial against Amber Heard, Johnny Depp is making a return to acting. Bloomberg recently reported that Depp’s next film, La Favorite, would be financed by Netflix, though this information has proven false. Netflix is not funding the film but has licensed the movie to stream in France. La Favorite is not a Netflix Original and will only stream on the platform after completing the country’s 15-month theatrical window. Whoa! That’s quite the stretch compared to the rate at which films are screening on streamers in the states.
La Favorite will star Johnny Depp as French king Louis XV. Maiwenn is directing the movie and will play Jeanne du Barry, a countess who was Louis XV’s last mistress. Filming is scheduled this summer for three months at locations that include the Versailles Palace. La Favorite is Depp’s first significant acting role since Andrew Levitas‘ Minimata, in which Depp plays War photographer W. Eugene Smith, who travels back to Japan where he documents the devastating effect of mercury poisoning in coastal communities.
Depp won his defamation trial against Heard on June 1. As a result, Heard is being ordered to pay $10.35 million in damages to Depp ($10 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages) for tarnishing his image in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she alluded to claims of domestic violence. The trial between the two stars was one of 2022’s most prominent media circuses, with every armchair juror weighing in across the internet. Heard has filed for repeal after losing the case, so the saga continues.
Are you excited about Depp returning to film for Maiwenn’s La Favorite? Do you think he’ll ever work back to starring roles in North American blockbusters? What about Heard? Does her repeal hold any water, or is she fighting an uphill battle? Let us know what you think in the comments section.