Johnny Depp to direct first feature film in 25 years

Film set to depict Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani

Johnny Depp performs on stage at the TEC Awards during the Namm Show in California in 2017. AFP

Depp joins musician Jeff Beck on stage during a concert, in Gateshead, Britain on June 2, 2022. Reuters

US musicians Alice Cooper, left, and Joe Perry, right, of the Hollywood Vampires perform with Johnny Depp during the Rock in Rio Lisboa festival at Parque da Bela Vista in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2016. EPA

Johnny Depp, right, with Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller at a recording of the 'Help Album' as aid for Bosnia at Abbey Road Studios in London in 1995. Getty Images

Johnny Depp accepts the MTV Generation Award from musicians Steven Tyler and Joe Perry on stage during the 2012 MTV Movie Awards in California in 2012. AFP

Johnny Depp performs with Marilyn Manson at the 2012 Revolver Golden Gods Award Show in California in 2012. AFP

Johnny Depp is set to direct his first feature film in 25 years with Modi, about the Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani.

Depp, 59, who in June concluded his multi-million-dollar defamation case against his former partner Amber Heard, will co-produce alongside Hollywood great Al Pacino and Barry Navidi.

Based on the play Modigliani by Dennis McIntyre and adapted for screen by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski, Modi will tell the story of the artist’s time in Paris in 1916.

It will offer a snapshot of a “turbulent and eventful” 48 hours during which, having long considered himself a critical and commercial failure, he solidifies himself as a creative force.

The project aims to start production in spring 2023 in Europe.

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“The saga of Mr Modigliani’s life is one that I’m incredibly honoured, and truly humbled, to bring to the screen," Depp said.

“It was a life of great hardship, but eventual triumph — a universally human story all viewers can identify with.”

Modi will be his second feature directorial credit after 1997’s The Brave, in which he starred alongside Marlon Brando.

It comes a week after Depp confirmed his first starring role since claiming victory in his now-infamous legal battle with Heard in Fairfax County, Virginia.

He will appear in the film Jeanne Du Barry, produced by French company Why Not Productions.

Mr Depp sued his former partner over a 2018 article she wrote for The Washington Post about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, which his lawyers said falsely accused him of being an abuser.

Pacino, whose numerous credits include The Godfather, Scarface and Donnie Brasco, has previously worked with veteran producer Navidi on various projects, including The Merchant Of Venice (2004), Wilde Salome (2011), and Salome (2013).

Modigliani, who worked mainly in France, is known for his portraits and nudes featuring elongated faces and bodies.

Although not well received during his lifetime, his works have since become highly sought after.

He died of tubercular meningitis in 1920 aged 35 in Paris.