Johnny Depp Cements Comeback With Netflix Original
Redemption is here!
We knew that Johnny Depp would be making his big return to acting with the movie where he plays Louis XV, but now it looks like Netflix is ready to jump in with him. The previously titled Jeanne du Barry is now titled La Favorite and will tell the story of Jeanne Bécu, an impoverished seamstress who rises through the ranks of Louis XV’s court to become his official mistress.
Netflix is reportedly on board to both co-finance and stream the French period drama, which is directed by Maiwenn, who also plays the mistress herself. Maiwenn is known for her previous films Mon Roi and DNA. La Favorite is currently scheduled for a 2023 release in France before it’s released on French Netflix 15 months later. Presumably, the film will be available to global audiences eventually due to the interest Johnny Depp will drum up, but that remains to be seen. This will be the first film for Johnny Depp where he acts in French.
Johnny Depp recently finished a very public legal battle between him and his ex-wife Amber Heard. Depp sued Heard for defamation over an op-ed posted by Heard in The Washington Post in 2018, where she wrote about her experiences with domestic abuse. Though Depp wasn’t named in the piece, he alleged that the op-ed was directed toward him and that it affected his career, losing roles in both the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchises. The jury ended up ruling in Depp’s favor, awarding him millions in damages. The court also awarded Heard $2 million on one of her counts of defamation against Depp. Heard will be appearing in the upcoming Aquaman sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom despite fan backlash.
Though La Favorite will be Depp’s first major acting project since his legal battle with Heard ended, he’ll be staying plenty busy with other creative endeavors in the meantime. After the trial concluded, Depp joined Jeff Beck on the road for the rest of his summer tour, which wraps up in Paris at the end of this month. This will line up perfectly with Depp’s schedule, as La Favorite is set to start filming in Paris this year. Beck will be dropping his album next week, titled 18. The album is a collaboration between Beck and Depp, with covers making up most of the tracklist and two original songs by Johnny Depp featured. One of the original songs titled “This Is A Song For Miss Hedy Lamarr,” is a single off the album and is currently available to stream. Depp will also be hitting the road next year, touring with Hollywood Vampires, which is a supergroup consisting of Depp, Alice Cooper, Tommy Henriksen, and Joe Perry from Aerosmith. They’re set to play various shows in Europe in the summer of 2023.
It seems like 2023 is set to be a pretty big year for Johnny Depp. With his rock tour and his return to acting coming in the same year, it seems like the actor is slowly returning to the mainstream. We’ll have to see if he ends up getting any of his big franchise roles back any time soon.
