Johnny Depp ‘in talks’ to make surprise appearance at the VMAs dressed as a Moonman

Johnny Depp is reportedly in talks to make a surprise appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards dressed as a Moonman, according to TMZ, 

After four decades of captivating fans with his portrayal of eccentric characters in films like Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands, the 59-year-old actor is rumored to be taking the stage as the network’s famous mascot.

While he is not nominated at the award ceremony, which will air next Sunday, the movie star has previously won MTV Movie Awards for Best Male Performance, Best Villain, Global Superstar and the Generation Award.

Next, the Oscar nominee is set to star in his first film since his defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, a French period piece called La Favorite.

Depp will play King Louis XV alongside Maiwenn Le Besco, who will both direct the film and play the main character, Jeanne du Barry, King Louis’ mistress.

Le Besco has had success before, directing critically acclaimed films such as Polisse and Mon Roi. The film, set to be shot this summer, will be Depp’s first film in French and is expected to released in 2023.

While the budget for the movie is unclear, Depp reportedly has an up-front starting fee of $20 million for any role.

La Favorite will mark a return for Depp after much of Hollywood blacklisted him following domestic violence accusations from Heard.

In 2020, a British court ruled that 12 of 14 violence incidents claimed by Heard were ‘substantially true,’ and Depp was subsequently forced to resign from the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ franchise at the request of Warner Bros. 

But, after his own defamation suit against Heard, in which he was awarded $15 million, the star seems to be attracting interest again.

Depp is reportedly in talks to star in another ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ film and reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow after a $301 million offer from Disney.

According to reports, Depp allegedly joked he wouldn’t return to the ‘Pirates’ franchise even if he was offered $300 million, which led Disney to offer him $1 million more than that.

His last film, Minimata, about war photographer W. Eugene Smith, was released in 2020.

The movie flopped, grossing a meager $1.7 million worldwide with a budget in the range of $11-13 million. Depp was paid $3 million for his role after ‘the financing became shaky,’ according to his agent.

The announcement comes as Netflix’s subscriber base and value have plummeted this year.

Netflix recently agreed with French cinema guilds to invest around $40 million into French films in an attempt to recoup interest in its productions.

Depp has a 23-year-old daughter with French singer Vanessa Paradis. Lily-Rose Depp, who is also an actor, was born in the upscale Paris suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Lily-Rose has also graced the Netflix homepage. The young actress starred opposite Timothee Chalamet in the 2019 Netflix movie The King.

The streaming giant admitted it expects to lose millions of subscribers this year, and its stock value has dropped over 70% since the beginning of the year.

Earlier this week, news broke that Depp would also be directing the film Modigliani, a biopic about Italian painter and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

Depp will be co-producing the film with Al Pacino and Barry Navidi in what will be the first flick he has helmed since making his feature directorial debut with the 1997 film The Brave. 

Modigliani, which is based on the play written by Dennis McIntyre and has been adapted for the silver screen by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski, follows the artist in Paris in 1916. 

Production is set to begin in Europe in spring 2023 and casting will also be revealed soon, according to THR.