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The first trailer for Jeanne du Barry has been released, with Johnny Depp returning to the big screen for the first time in years.
The 60-year-old played Louis XV in the French period drama, which is now coming out in theaters, almost a year after premiering at Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews.
It is his first film release following his highly-publicized defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard in 2022.
In the trailer, he can be seen falling in love with Jeanne Bécu (Maiwenn), whose entrance into Versailles causes commotion in the royal court.
Despite being advised not to make eye contact with him or publicly reveal her feelings, she ignores all the rules and goes straight for him.
‘I want to be by her side when the sun rises and when it sets,’ he tells a member of his staff as their love affair starts.
However, others aren’t as thrilled by the bond and try to persuade Jeanne to leave Versailles for good as the King’s dark side becomes evident.
‘King Louis XV had many lovers but only one stole his heart,’ a message on screen teases. ‘The scandal that shocked a kingdom.’
Jeanne du Barry is released in the UK on April 19, and premieres in the US the following month, on May 2.
The official synopsis reads: ‘The life of Jeanne Bécu who was born as the illegitimate daughter of an impoverished seamstress in 1743 and went on to rise through the Court of Louis XV to become his last official mistress.’
Depp was visibly emotional at the Cannes premiere last May – his first official release since his court case against Heard in June, 2022.
However, he has insisted that the role is not a ‘comeback’.
‘I keep wondering about the word ‘comeback’ because I didn’t go anywhere,’ he vowed at a press conference for the flick, via Reuters.
‘Maybe people stopped calling out of whatever their fear was at the time but no, I didn’t go nowhere.
‘The notion of something like that is a bizarre mystery.’
Depp and his co-stars spoke entirely in French throughout the duration of Jeanne du Barry, and he explained that he worked with a ‘coach’ to make sure his pronunciation was ‘as close as possible’ to the time period.
‘First of all, even if I speak a little French, to get as close as possible to 18th-century French, I worked with a coach who was extremely effective when it came to pronunciation, for example,’ he explained via Entertainment Weekly.
‘My goal was to detach myself as much as possible from this question so that the words would come out of my mouth in the most natural way possible and I could focus on acting and on my fellow actors.’
Jeanne du Barry is released in the UK on April 19, and on May 2 in the US.
