With Johnny Depp’s legal battle with Amber Heard reportedly settled, the actor is now able to refocus his efforts on his acting career. Specifically, that means the new period film Jeanne du Barry in which Depp will be playing King Louis XV. Johnny Depp was once one of the biggest stars in Hollywood but if the actor was hoping for this movie to be the beginning of a major comeback, he may have already hit a snag.
Wion is reporting a claim from French film commentator Bernard Montield that Johnny Depp and Jeanne du Barry director Maïwenn clashed repeatedly while on set. Allegedly, Depp would sometimes not show up on set on time, and then, in retaliation, Maïwenn would sometimes not show up when Depp was there. These timing issues apparently led to several arguments between the two during filming.
Johnny Depp has been accused of erratic behavior while on set before, and while there may have been a willingness to deal with that in the past, when he was one of the biggest stars in the world, if Depp gets a reputation to be difficult to work with, it could seriously hamper any efforts at a broader Hollywood comeback. It’s already being reported that many studios may steer clear of Depp, despite his seeming vindication in the courts. While the verdict in the Amber Heard defamation lawsuit went in his favor, that doesn’t mean he’s entirely absolved of any wrongdoing in the eyes of everybody. If the on-set reports here are true the number of people who are willing to work with him may get even smaller.
This report should be taken with a grain of salt. It also includes a claim that Depp is set to return for a sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and we know that isn’t currently the case. Every report on that franchise has indicated that Depp won’t even cameo in a future film. While there’s always the possibility that could change, right now there isn’t a sixth movie that’s actually happening anyway, so why there’s a claim here that there is a movie and Depp is on board, is anybody’s guess. It appears one of the two Pirates projects that were in development, the one that doesn’t include Margot Robbie, is moving forward, but that’s far from a guarantee it will even happen.
Even if Johnny Depp never reaches quite the same heights in his career that he once had, it seems likely that he will continue to have a career. He’s a marketable name and even the reporter claiming there were problems on set of Jeanne du Barry said that when the actor was on set, his work was excellent.