Johnny Depp has had a very tough and sad past year. Not only was he in court for most of the time, but his great friend, and amazing musician, Jeff Beck also passed away which seemingly left Depp brokenhearted. In fact, Depp was at Beck’s bedside before Jeff would pass. Now, it looks like Depp is taking the first steps in the healing process.
Depp, one of the world’s most famous actors is on holiday in Saudi Arabia at the moment, visiting historic AlUla–perhaps the most beautiful area in the entire country, reported Esquire.
It appears that Depp is the guest of the Royal Commission of Alula, as the Minister of Culture & Governor of the Royal Commission for Alula. Bader bin Farhan Alsaud posted a photo of the two together on his Instagram account, complete with a caption “good times”.
Is there a reason for Johnny being so far away from home? Yes, The Red Sea Film Festival has announced that it is backing Depp’s next film through its film foundation, the French period drama “Jeanne” du Barry”, in which Depp stars as the 18th century French King Louis XV, which has already wrapped initial photography.
The film is directed by French Actress and filmmaker Maïwenn, who plays the role of Madame du Barry, with Pierre Richard, Benjamin Lavernhe, Noémie Lvovsky, Melvil Poupaud, India Hair and Pascal Greggory rounding out the cast,
This is the first time that Red Sea, which just celebrated its star-studded second edition last December, has forged a partnership with France for an international co-production.
This “demonstrates the Festival’s ongoing mission to support distinctive filmmaking and champion visionary female talent both on and behind the camera from around the world,” said Red Sea in a statement.
Al Turki said: “We are thrilled to be supporting Maïwenn’s upcoming feature “Jeanne du Barry. This is a film that immediately interested us, it’s an incredibly unique and ambitious biographical feature and a testament to our commitment to supporting new talent and collaborating with world-class writers, directors and producers,” he added, further noting: “We hope this collaboration will strengthen the ties between Saudi and French cinema and the first of many international films that we can support that advocate for women filmmakers.”
Depp, we can guess, traveled to forge the deal and then went to Alula to celebrate, or perhaps was invited after the deal was finalized.
