Johnny Depp will be directing a biopic of Amedeo Modigliani, the celebrated Italian painter who died in poverty in 1920 but who subsequently became renowned for his pictures of nudes with elongated faces and limbs.
A quarter of a century after he directed both himself and Marlon Brando in 1997’s The Brave, his feature directorial debut, Depp is set to get behind the camera for Modigliani, about Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, and will co-produce alongside Al Pacino and Barry Navidi.
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The film is an adaptation of the eponymous 1978 play by Dennis McIntyre, which focuses on just three days in 1916, when the artist was in his early 30s.
Suffering from painter’s block and tuberculosis — ailments he sought to ease with absinthe, hashish and women — Modi is on the run from the police after smashing an expensive restaurant window.
Destitute and desperate, he and his artist friends debate stealing a dead cow, murdering a mother’s boyfriend, and burning down the Louvre before Modi meets with a dealer who could change his fortunes.
Production on Modigliani will begin in 2023, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Depp will produce the film alongside Al Pacino and Barry Navidi.
Depp said: “The saga of Mr. Modigliani’s life is one that I’m incredibly honored, and truly humbled, to bring to the screen … It was a life of great hardship, but eventual triumph – a universally human story all viewers can identify with.”
