Johnny Depp marks celebrity comeback with Cannes opening film
17.05.2023 - 03:53
/ msn.com
CANNES (Reuters) -Johnny Depp seemed back in full celebrity mode on Tuesday, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans before the premiere of the Cannes Film Festival's opening film "Jeanne du Barry," which marks the actor's first major role since his high-profile defamation trial. Fans in the French Riviera city were seen hoisting signs that read "Congrats, Johnny" and "We are sorry" with a heart. The festival delivered on its glamorous reputation with a parade of stars including Mads Mikkelsen, a blue-haired Helen Mirren and John C.
Reilly making their way across the red carpet. Michael Douglas, accompanied by his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and their daughter, did not stop to sign autographs as he made his way into the Grand Theatre Lumiere, where the 78-year-old actor was given an honourary Palme d'Or. "There are hundreds of film festivals all around the world, but there's only one Cannes," Douglas told the crowd.
"And suddenly, (it's) 76 years old - I'm even older than the festival," he quipped. French cinema icon Catherine Deneuve, 79, who graces this year's festival poster, was also invited on stage to speak to guests. Depp plays King Louis XV in "Jeanne du Barry," directed and starring French actor and director Maïwenn Le Besco, known as Maïwenn, as the French courtesan Madame du Barry who climbed the social ladder at Versailles to become the king's favourite.
Critics highlighted the lush look of the film, which received funding from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Foundation as part of a total estimated budget of $22. 4 million - but said it lacked a pulse. "Even the casting - some would say stunt casting - of Johnny Depp as the king offers a few early thrills and then mostly yawns," wrote The Hollywood
.