Depp has been involved in legal controversies concerning his ex-wife Amber Heard and British tabloid, The Sun.
Johnny Depp has been in hot water for a while now. He lost the libel case against the British tabloid, The Sun, in the UK and has not been a part of new film projects since his legal battle with his ex-wife, Amber Heard. But better days seem to be on the way now since Depp has been confirmed to play King Louis XV in Maïwenn’s next production.
The historical drama will feature the controversial royal who ruled France from 1715 to 1774. Although he was nicknamed "the Well-Beloved" and his reign outlasted every monarch other than his predecessor, he became an ineffectual ruler and died a hated man. His reign was so unpopular that it helped set the stage for the French Revolution, which began in 1787.
Neither the name of the project nor what the premise of the film will be has been revealed yet. The film based on this monarch is being produced by Pascal Caucheteux and Gregoire Sorlat’s Paris-based Why Not Productions (A Prophet), and world sales are being handled by Wild Bunch International (Titane), as per Variety. The shoot is set to take place across France for three months, mainly at the Versailles Palace as well as other Parisian landmarks. In addition to Depp, Maïwenn, who is a French actress as well, will also feature in the film. She will star as Jeanne du Barry, a countess who was Louis XV’s last mistress. The film will most likely be in French, a language Depp has a certain level of proficiency in.
The 58-year-old had been alleged of domestic violence against Heard who wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in 2019. He sued her for defamation, the hearing for which will take place this year. The Sun later published an article calling him a "wife-beater" and he sued the publication for defamation as well. During the process, he was dropped from several high-profile movie deals. This included the Harry Potter spin-off franchise, Fantastic Beasts series as Gellert Grindelwald and the Pirates of the Caribbean in which he portrayed the iconic Jack Sparrow.
It seemed like he was more or less blacklisted in Hollywood after the successful career he had since no one was casting him in any films anymore. He even claimed that he was being boycotted. Last year, Andrew Levitas who directed the film, Minamata, expressed concern in a letter to MGM and others claiming that they were trying to “bury” the film because of Depp's "fall from grace" in their eyes. The film had a goal of bringing to light the injustice that went down in the city of Minamata, Japan, where there were attempts to cover up citizens' mercury poisoning. Levitas stated that MGM's personal baggage with the star should not come in the way of seeking justice for the people.
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