The Johnny Depp movie so bad that it will never be shown again – TH
The Johnny Depp movie so bad that it will never be shown again
For only the second time ever and first in over a quarter of a century, Johnny Depp took on the role of director, gathering together Riccardo Scamarcio, Stephen Graham, Luisa Ranieri, and Al Pacino to star in Modì, a biographical drama focusing on Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani.
The three-time Academy Award nominee won’t be appearing on-screen, though, keeping his involvement strictly limited to an off-camera capacity. Regardless of how it ends up faring with critics or performing among the moviegoing public in the end unless something goes drastically wrong, it’s also guaranteed to find a much wider audience than his feature-length debut.
Co-written, directed by, and starring Depp in the lead role, The Brave adapted Gregory Mcdonald’s novel of the same name, with the leading man’s Raphael agreeing to star in a snuff film at the behest of Marlon Brando’s mysterious benefactor in exchange for a sum of money large enough to guarantee his family a better life.
That’s exactly what ended up happening, too, with scathing reviews from American critics leading Depp to abandon all plans to secure domestic distribution and make The Brave completely unavailable in cinemas or on home video. Admitting that “they just fucking destroyed us”, the actor believed he was being subjected to a personal attack for “daring” to try his hand at directing.
Having gone well above its allocated $5million budget, the future Pirates of the Caribbean headliner agreed to fund anything above that total out of his own pocket, which is estimated to have cost him millions. By cutting off his nose to spite his face, there wasn’t a chance he’d be able to recoup his own investment.
Even before The Brave had premiered, he’d described it as “one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done”, with the production having “just about ripped me to shreds”. With that in mind, maybe the earliest inkling of a critical evisceration was enough to convince him that it was better off being buried in the very same vault he’d alluded to following its first screening to the public.
It’s taken a long time for Depp to return to directing, but as long as Modì plays in at least one cinema and the showing isn’t completely unattended, it’s found a bigger and significantly wider crowd than The Brave as a matter of default.
