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Johnny Depp and Al Pacino will reunite for the first time since 1997’s Donnie Brasco.
Depp will direct Pacino in Modi, a film on the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani rather than the current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The film will center on Modigliani’s life in 1916, when he escapes from police through the streets of war-torn Paris and contemplates ending his creative career.
Riccardo Scamarcio, best known to American fans for his portrayal as the villain in John Wick: Chapter 2, will play Modigliani. Pacino will portray Gangnat, an international art dealer, and is also a co-producer on the project. Deadline broke the news of Pacino’s participation first, which Depp’s production company Infinitum Nihil later confirmed on Twitter.
SC/Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Pool Johnny Depp’s forthcoming picture ‘Modi,’ directed by Al Pacino, will include Al Pacino.
Modi marks Depp’s second time behind the camera, after his directorial debut The Brave in 1997, in which he co-starred with Marlon Brando. Depp is not currently scheduled to appear in Modi, but he will return to the big screen as an actor in Jeanne du Barry, which will debut at the Cannes Film Festival and star Depp as King Louis XV of France.
During a high-profile court dispute with ex-wife Amber Heard last year, Depp claimed that a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which Heard identified herself as a public figure representing domestic violence harmed his career and reputation. A jury in Fairfax County, Virginia, agreed, awarded the actor $15 million in damages (which the court lowered to $10.35 million under state law).
Although Europe is a great distance from Hollywood, Depp’s film career looks to be resuming.
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