Johnny Depp Lands First Major Role Since 'Wife Beater' Court Case

Johnny Depp looks to have landed himself his first movie role since losing a defamation case against The Sun newspaper.

The case centred on whether an article published in The Sun in which Depp was called a 'wife beater' was libellous.

According to Variety, the director of 'Polisse' and 'Mon Roi' has now hired the star for a new drama, set to shoot in Versailles this summer.

The 58-year-old is set to star as French king Louis XV in the not yet untitled film from French director Maiwenn.

The film will be produced by Why Not Productions and the synopsis is yet to be revealed.

The publication report that the project will be introduced to buyers at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin by Wild Bunch International who are handling worldwide sales.

Alamy

Louis XV, who Depp will be playing, ruled France for 59 years from 1715 to his death in 1774.

As per BBC History, 'his failures contributed to the crisis that brought on the French Revolution'.

Last September, Johnny Deep issued an ominous warning to celebrities and regular folk about the trappings of cancel culture.

The Hollywood star was in Spain for the 2021 San Sebastian Film Festival, where he received a lifetime achievement award for his movie career.

"It can be seen as an event in history that lasted for however long it lasted, this cancel culture, this instant rush to judgement based on what essentially amounts to polluted air," he said, according to Deadline.

Depp has certainly seen this issue first hand after being dumped from the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean and Fantastic Beasts 3 because of his high-profile court defamation court case.

Alamy

Depp's former bandmate has claimed that the Hollywood actor's marriage to Amber Heard 'ruined his life' and drove him 'to the point of insanity'.

Bill 'Beano' Hanti, who was in a band known as 'The Kids' with Depp in the 1980s, revealed his hostile feelings for Heard in the new two-part documentary Johnny vs Amber.

In a clip from the documentary, Hanti says: "He had something special with Vanessa and he f****d it up."

Going on to discuss Heard, who met Depp in 2009 on the set of The Rum Diary, he explained: "She just saw him coming. She got the opportunity to be a part of that film and she worked it.

"Ruined his life, it really did. Look at it, it totally f****d his career over. Cost him his friends. Part of his family. 

"She got inside John's head and made him absolutely crazy to the point where he was drinking and drugging, to the point of insanity."

Topics: Johnny Depp