The Hollywood Reporter reported today that Maïwenn’s latest film, “Jeanne du Barry,” will open the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on May 16th, 2023.
While Maïwenn’s name carries a lot of prestige from her acting career and her filmmaking career (she previously directed the Palme d’Or competition films “Polisse” and “Mon Roi”), the presence of Johnny Depp in this film as Louis XV is undoubtedly going to garner a lot of publicity and a lot of it won’t be for good reasons. Maïwenn will play Louis XV’s famous royal mistress Madame du Barry. The film also stars Benjamin Lavernhe, Melvil Poupaud, Pierre Richard, Pascal Greggory, and India Hair and will receive a French theatrical rollout alongside its Cannes world premiere.
The film follows Jeanne Bécu (Maïwenn), a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, who uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one. She becomes the favorite of King Louis XV (Depp), who, unaware of her status as a courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life. They fall madly in love, and, against all propriety and etiquette, Jeanne moves to Versailles, where her arrival scandalizes the court.
The official lineup for the Cannes Film Festival will be announced on April 13th. We currently know Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny,” and Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” will play at Cannes but what do you think of this news? Please let us know in the comments section below or over on our Twitter account.
