Johnny Depp's 'Jeanne du Barry' film to open Cannes 2023
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The historical drama, “Jeanne du Barry,” starring Johnny Depp as King Louis XV, will open the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
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Actor Johnny Depp appears for the European premiere of their film, "The Rum Diary," in London on Nov. 3, 2011. The historical drama, “Jeanne du Barry,” starring Depp as King Louis XV, will open the 76th Cannes Film Festival (AP)
The Cannes Film Festival will open with a French historical drama starring Johnny Depp as King Louis XV, the festival's organizers revealed on Wednesday.
"Jeanne du Barry" is directed by France's filmmaker Maiwenn, who also appears as the renowned 18th-century courtesan who wins the king's heart.
It is Depp's first significant acting role following his high-profile defamation trial with ex-wife Amber Heard after she accused him of domestic abuse.
The new movie will be screened on the first night of the French festival, on May 16, and will be released across French theaters on that same day.
In January, the Saudi Red Sea Film Foundation announced its investment in Depp's new film.
"We hope this collaboration will strengthen the ties between Saudi and French cinema and be the first of many international films that we can support that advocate for women filmmakers," said Mohammed Al-Turki, CEO of the Red Sea International Film Festival, which is linked to the foundation.
The foundation, founded in 2019, organizes the annual Jeddah Film Festival, which debuted in 2021 as part of an alleged wave of reforms in a country that had banned cinemas for the longest time.
It has already funded 170 African and Arab films, but this is its first foray into European cinema.
The global premiere of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" and the newest Martin Scorsese film, "Killers of the Flower Moon," starring Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, are both scheduled to take place at this year's Cannes Festival, which runs from May 16 to 28.
The full line-up will be revealed on April 13.
Read: Indiana Jones 5 to premiere at Cannes with tribute to Ford
