Johnny Depp is stepping behind the camera to direct Modi, the first cast members have now been announced.
Johnny Depp is set to direct a movie for the second time in his career. His last stint behind the camera was in 1997, where he also starred alongside Marlon Brando in The Brave. It was a movie that pretty much disappeared without trace.
The new film, a biopic of artist Amedeo Modigliani, is called Modi, and it will “chronicle the life of the Italian artist across a turbulent and eventful 48 hours which sees him on the run from police through the streets and bars of war-torn Paris. His desire to prematurely end his career and leave the city is dismissed by fellow bohemians: French artist Maurice Utrillo, the Belarusian-born Chaim Soutine and his English muse and lover, Beatrice Hastings. Modi seeks advice from his Polish art dealer and friend Leopold Zborowski, but the chaos reaches a crescendo when he’s faced with a collector who could change his life”.
Depp will direct from a screenplay by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski, which they adapted from a play by Dennis McIntyre. Al Pacino is also on board as a producer, and it has been revealed that Pacino will play a role in the film. Italian star Riccardo Scamarcio will take on the title role, alongside Pierre Niney.
His story has been told onscreen before, in 2004’s Modigliani, in which Andy Garcia took on the title role.
The aim is for this one to go before the cameras in Budapest in the latter half of the year, we’ll keep you updated as we hear more.
