Johnny's new film Modi premieres at the San Sebastian Festival September 2024

[In-too-Depp]

[SnoopyDances]

[In-too-Depp]

Johnny Depp’s ‘Modi’ Biopic to Premiere at San Sebastian Film Festival

Ellise Shafer
Variety.com
20th Aug 2024

Johnny Depp's second directorial effort, “Modi — Three Days on the Wings of Madness,” will make its debut at the San Sebastian Film Festival next month.

The film, which stars Riccardo Scamarcio as famed Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani, is set to premiere in the festival’s out of competition strand. According to its synopsis, “Modi” is “a tale of art, love and rejection” that “follows a 72-hour whirlwind of chaotic events through the streets and bars of a Paris torn apart during World War I.” It also stars Stephen Graham, Al Pacino and Antonia Desplat.

“Modi” marks Depp’s return to directing after his 1997 debut with the critically panned “The Brave.” It is also one of the actor’s first projects since his 2022 court battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, in which he sued her for defamation after she accused him of domestic abuse. Depp ultimately won the case, though the controversy caused by it has impacted his career. He made his festival comeback in Cannes in 2023 with a starring role in Maïwenn’s “Jeanne du Barry,” and though Variety reported on rumors that “Modi” may debut at Venice, clearly the film took a different route.

In a statement alongside photos released from the set of “Modi,” Depp called making the film an “incredibly fulfilling and transformative experience.”

“I would like to express my profound gratitude to the entire cast, crew, and producers for their unwavering commitment and creativity,” he continued. “To Al, who requested that I make this film — how could I refuse Pacino? A sincere acknowledgement for generously contributing his talent and dedication to this project. ‘Modi’ is a testament to the collaborative spirit of independent filmmaking, and I am excited to present this unique and compelling story to the world.”

[Sweeney Todd]

Can’t wait.

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It won't be long now! Keep an eye out for Johnny at the SSFF

The World Première of Modi - Three Days On The Wings Of Madness will take place at the San Sebastián Film Festival on Tuesday, September 24th, with Johnny and the delegation attending.

[In-too-Depp]

Johnny Depp fans come out in droves to support his new directorial effort Modi at San Sebastian Film Festival

Article by Brian Gallgher
Dailymail.co.uk
23rd Sept

Fans of actor Johnny Depp came out in droves to support the actor as he was getting ready to premiere his new directorial effort.

The 61-year-old actor had a massive throng of fans waiting for him as he arrived at his hotel ahead of the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain on Monday.

His new film Modi - Three Days on the Wings of Madness - which Depp directs - will have its world premiere at the festival on Tuesday.

The actor and director was spotted greeting some of the fans who were waiting for him and taking some selfies.

The outing comes just weeks after Depp unveiled a massive dental makeover to fans earlier this month.

Depp was spotted donning a powder blue suit with a coat and matching vest over a grey dress shirt with no tie.

The actor also donned lightly-tinted sunglasses while sporting a goatee with his black hair falling to his chin.

The filmmaker accessorized with a number of different rings and completed his look with black dress shoes.

After arriving at the hotel, Depp made his way to the throng of fans waiting for him, even giving a few fans a hug.

While Depp doesn't star in Modi - his second feature film at the helm following 1997's The Brave with Marlon Brando - the cast includes Al Pacino, Riccardo Scamarcio and Depp's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise co-star Stephen Graham.

The film is described as, 'a 72 hour whirlwind through the streets of WWI Paris,' following Italian bohemian artist Modigliani (Riccardo Scamarcio).

The film follows the artists as he, 'attempts to out maneuver bombs, policemen, girlfriends and critics in a increasingly desperate search of a home for his art.'

The film reunites Depp and Pacino for the first time since their 1997 film Donnie Brasco, where, according to Variety, they first spoke about the project.

Depp said of the iconic artist, 'Modigliani was, of course, one of the great contemporary artists of all time. But he also represented an era and point of view where new possibilities still existed.'

'His vision fascinates me. He doggedly walked to the beat of his own drum, and possessed a natural allergy for convention during a time where the norm was being openly challenged across every medium,' Depp revealed to Variety.

'It would be foolish not to admit that everything Modigliani ever stood for, and continues to stand for, resonates deeply within me,' he said

“I feel immensely fortunate to be given the opportunity to, along with a sublime cast and crew, capture his world in three days

[SnoopyDances]

[In-too-Depp]

Penelope Cruz, 50, wraps her arm around Johnny Depp, 61, as they enjoy a Blow reunion 23 years after the cocaine drama debuted

Dailymail.co.uk
Article by Heidi Parker
25th Sept 2024

Penelope Cruz shared a heartwarming photo to her Insta Stories on Tuesday.

The 50-year-old Spanish actress had her arm around 61-year-old Hollywood movie star Johnny Depp.

They were both attending the 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival in Spain.

It has been 23 years since they played a volatile married couple in their 2001 cocaine drama Blow from director Ted Demme.

Depp played real-life criminal George Jung, who single-handedly became the world's premiere importer of cocaine from Colombia's Medellin cartel in the 1970s.

Cruz played his volcanic Cuban wife Mirtha Jung.

The movie became an instant classic.

The gritty film was based on a book.

David McKenna and Nick Cassavetes adapted Bruce Porter's 1993 book Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellín Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All.

It is based on the real-life stories of U.S. drug trafficker Jung and his connections including narcotics kings Pablo Escobar and Carlos Lehder Rivas (portrayed in the film as Diego Delgado), and the Medellín Cartel.

Also in the film was Franka Potente as Barbara 'Barbie' Buckley.

And a very young Emma Roberts played Kristina Sunshine Jung, the child of Cruz's and Depp's characters. Jaime King played the older version of Kristina.

Penelope was seen at the opening ceremony for the festival; her husband Javier Bardem was honored.

Depp was at the festival to promote his movie Modi, Three Days on the Wings of Madness.

Modì – Three Days on the Wing of Madness is a 2024 biographical drama film based on the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani.

It is directed by Depp from a screenplay by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski, which is based on the play Modigliani by Dennis McIntyre.

In March Cruz said is happier now but still misses the 'antics' of her younger days.

The actress admitted she prefers the relationship she has with herself now to decades past.

Pondering how experience gives you 'peace of mind', she told Elle Spain: 'If you ask me what my relationship with myself was like now and the one I had in my 20s or 30s, I honestly prefer the one now.

'Because of how I feel, and maybe there have been other times where I wouldn't have said it.'

She added: 'I take advantage of every decade, every moment, and I never think that "I was better before."'

While the Ferrari star is happy with how she has grown and developed, she does miss the 'kind of unconsciousness' that came with youth. She said: 'Sometimes I would like to do more antics and return more to that kind of unconsciousness.'

She noted that while some aspects of life 'have not been easy', she takes any struggles as lessons. She explained: 'Everything I've learned so far or all the mountains I've had to climb – some of which haven't been easy, and I don't mean anything to do with success or that part of the job – are part of my daily learning.'

Penelope previously admitted her regular director collaborator Pedro Almodóvar, 74, has always viewed her as a mother on screen.

She told Elle magazine: 'At my age, 80 per cent of the characters that I play will be about motherhood or divorce or abandonment or characters who didn't want to have children or couldn't or who lost children.

'I've played mothers since I was very young. Pedro always saw me as a mother.

'We have known each other since I was 17. He would watch me going to talk to strangers just to see their babies.

'He always saw that strong, inevitable instinct in me, and I saw him see it.'

Pics in the article.

[In-too-Depp]

Johnny Depp’s ‘Modi’ Charms San Sebastian, Filmmaker Dedicates Flick To Late Rocker Jeff Beck

Deadline.com
Article by Zac Ntim
24th Sept 2024

There were cheers of “bravo” and an uncharacteristically long-standing ovation this evening in San Sebastian as the credits rolled on Johnny Depp’s second directorial effort Modi – Three Days On The Wing Of Madness.

The period flick debuted out of competition here in San Sebastian where Depp has been welcomed warmly by fans and festival delegates. This evening before the screening began, huge swathes of festivalgoers congregated outside the Kursaal auditorium to catch a glimpse of Depp as he entered the building for the premiere.

The period flick debuted out of competition here in San Sebastian where Depp has been welcomed warmly by fans and festival delegates. This evening before the screening began, huge swathes of festivalgoers congregated outside the Kursaal auditorium to catch a glimpse of Depp as he entered the building for the premiere.

Depp met similar crowds this morning at the Modi press conference where journalists rushed the stage to snap his picture.

Overall, Modi appeared to be generally well-received by the San Sebastian audience who sporadically cheered and clapped during the screening. There was particular enthusiasm for veteran actor Al Pacino, who arrives in the film’s final act. Pacino plays a wheeling-dealing art buyer who attempts to scam Modigliani out of a painting. Just before the credits roll, a message pops on screen as the film closes, dedicating the feature to the late English rocker Jeff Beck. Depp and Beck were longtime friends and collaborators. In 2022, the pair released the LP 18 on Rhino Records. The record would ultimately be Beck’s last before his death in January 2023.

Depp was joined this evening at the premiere by most of his cast, including the film’s leads Antonia Desplat and Riccardo Scamarcio. Al Pacino and Stephen Graham — who also has a prominent role in the pic — were not in attendance.

Modi is Depp’s second directorial effort and comes 27 years after The Brave, his debut film as a director. Described as a “seventy-two-hour whirlwind in the life of bohemian artist Amedeo Modigliani”, the film follows the artist through a chaotic series of events through the streets of war-torn Paris in 1916.

The film’s synopsis reads: On the run from the police, his desire to end his career and leave the city is dismissed by fellow artists Maurice Utrillo, Chaim Soutine, and Modi’s muse, Beatrice Hastings. Modi seeks advice from his art dealer and friend, Leopold Zborowski — however, after a night of hallucinations, the chaos in Modi’s mind reaches a crescendo when faced with an American collector, Maurice Gangnat, who has the power to change his life.

Producers on the pic are Andrea Iervolino and Barry Navidi. Vincent Maraval’s Goodfellas is handling sales.