©Courtesy of Vertical Releasing
Vertical Releasing has dropped a new trailer for Maïwenn’s period drama “Jeanne du Barry” starring Johnny Depp, Depp is making a royal return to the big screen.
The film marks Depp’s first appearance on screen since he won his highly publicized defamation suit against ex-wife, Amber Heard. The life of Jeanne Bécu who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743 and went on to rise through the Court of Louis XV to become his last official mistress.
Her lover, the Comte du Barry (Melvil Poupaud), wishes to present her to King Louis XV (Johnny Depp) and orchestrates a meeting through the influential Duke of Richelieu (Pierre Richard). The encounter goes far beyond his expectations for it was love at first sight for the King and Jeanne. Through this ravishing courtesan, the king rediscovers his appetite for life and feels he can no longer live without her. Taking Jeanne his last official mistress, scandal erupts as no one at Court will accept a girl from the streets into their rarified world.
“I discovered the character in 2006 thanks to the film, Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola,” Maïwenn previously told Harper’s Bazaar. “She was played by Asia Argento. As soon as she appeared on screen, I was captivated. I only wanted to stay with her.”
Maïwenn, Teddy Lussi-Modeste and Nicolas Livecchi penned the script for the 116-minute film which premiered at Cannes last year, Besides Depp, the film stars Benjamin Lavernhe, Pierre Richard, Melvil Poupaud, and Pascal Greggory.
The filmmaker has been dreaming of bringing Jeanne’s story to life ever since, Depp who last appeared onscreen in 2020’s Minamata, stars as King Louis XV in the first trailer for the French-language historical drama Jeanne du Barry, written, directed, and produced by his costar, the mononymous French filmmaker Maïwenn.
Depp speaks entirely in French throughout the film, “First of all, even if I speak a little French, to get as close as possible to 18th-century French, I worked with a coach who was extremely effective when it came to pronunciation, for example, My goal was to detach myself as much as possible from this question so that the words would come out of my mouth in the most natural way possible and I could focus on acting and on my fellow actors, Depp said at the Cannes last year.
The film received a seven-minute standing ovation after its opening night world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, Jeanne du Barry will open in select theaters in the U.S. and Canada beginning May 2.