Johnny Depp’s ‘Jeanne du Barry’ Enjoys Best Start of Decade for Cannes Opening at French Box Office

Good game.

Joan of Barry – starring Johnny Depp – earned a triumphant bow at the box office in France, scheduled for its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

The costume drama amassed 401,481 admissions in its first week of release, the best showing in a decade for a Cannes opening night film, according to French distributor Le Pacte. The latest film to do more entering French theaters at the same time as its Cannes stop was Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 feature The Great Gatsbywith Leonardo DiCaprio (760,438 admissions).

The Great Gatsbyobviously, it was a major Hollywood studio film.

More often than not, Cannes head Thierry Fremaux selects an independent title to open the historic festival. It’s also common for a French-language film, like Joan of Barry, to receive the coveted place. (It is traditional for the opening night film to take place in French cinemas that same night.)

From French multisyllabic Maïwenn, Joan of Barry stars Depp as King Louis XV, while Maïwenn plays the titular character as well as directing.

Cannes marked Depp’s first major appearance after years of legal wrangling and a tumultuous divorce with ex-wife Amber Heard, one that included domestic violence allegations and two high-profile defamation lawsuits (the latter was settled in favor of Depp, with Heard ordered to pay 10 million dollars).

To date, no deal has been announced for a US distributor release Joan of Barry in the U.S. The film has drawn mixed reviews from many critics, while it is unclear whether a specialized division owned by a major studio would go into business with Depp again.

Maïwenn, winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes for her 2011 drama Policies and an outspoken critic of the #MeToo movement, he has faced his share of controversy of late after allegations surfaced that he grabbed journalist Edwy Plenel’s head and spat at him as he was dining at a Paris restaurant. Plenel has released an investigation into sexual abuse allegations against director Luc Besson, who appears to be Maïwenn’s ex-husband.

Other French-language films that have opened Cannes in recent years include 2017 The ghosts of Ismael (The Ghosts of Ishmael)which garnered 173,994 admissions on its box office debut, and Standing Tall (2015)Straight), which recorded an attendance of 250,271.

by Nicole Kidman Grace of Monaco (2014), which is in both English and French, had 152,404 admissions at the French box office upon its debut at the Cannes opener.