Yahoo Movies Johnny Depp to Make Film Return as King Louis XV in Upcoming Historical Drama: Reports
SC Pool - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp is set to take on the role of French King Louis XV.
The 58-year-old actor will star as the controversial royal in a new movie from French filmmaker Maïwenn, multiple outlets report, including Variety and TheWrap.
Plot details and a title have not been unveiled as of yet, but Variety reports that the project will begin filming this summer around Paris, primarily at the Palace of Versailles, and last three months.
According to the outlet, Maïwenn, 45, will also star alongside Depp as Countess Jeanne du Barry, Louis XV's final mistress.
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Andreas Rentz/Getty Johnny Depp
The film is the first that Depp has signed on to since losing his libel case against British tabloid The Sun in November 2020. He previously sued the outlet after it called him a "wife-beater," following his contentious split from now-ex-wife Amber Heard.
After losing the case, Depp agreed to exit the role of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the Harry Potter spinoff series, Fantastic Beasts. Mads Mikkelsen was then cast as the villainous character in the franchise's upcoming third installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Depp's most recent role was as photographer W. Eugene Smith in the drama Minamata, which he also co-produced.
While Minamata was not released in the U.S. until last month, it premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 21, 2020.
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Heard, 35, filed for divorce from Depp in 2016 and later accused him of domestic violence. Depp denied all the allegations. A judge finalized their divorce in January 2017 with Heard being granted a $7 million settlement.
Their legal battles continued when Depp sued Heard for defamation after the Aquaman actress wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in 2018 about surviving domestic violence. (Heard never named Depp in the op-ed.) The case is ongoing.
In November, Discovery UK announced it had commissioned Johnny vs Amber, a two-episode documentary series that tells the story of the breakdown of the marriage between Depp and Heard, as well as their ensuing legal battle.
The documentary will show the different perspectives between Depp and Heard with one episode focusing on the Pirates of the Caribbean actor's perspective, while the other episode will focus on Heard's side of the story.
