Johnny Depp is back and has released the first images of Modi, his first as a director since 1997's The Brave, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film stars Al Pacino and just recently wrapped filming. The film reunites Depp and Pacino since 1997's Donnie Brasco. While they were in Adam Sandler's 2011 comedy Jack and Jill, they were only in small roles (Pacino) and a cameo (Depp).

It has been more than 20 years since Depp sat in the director's chair. This move also came after years of legal proceedings due to his difficult divorce with ex-wife Amber Heard. The lawsuit included domestic violation allegations as well as defamation. The actor has been working in indies since Warner Bros. effective fired from from the Fantastic Beast franchise in 2020.

Johnny Depp: actor, musician, director

Johnny Depp, Jeanne du Barry

To signal the end of Modi's production, Depp said that it was “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. 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,” he continued.

The film is a biopic of Amedeo “Modi” Modigliani, an Italian painter and sculptor. The movie is based on the 1980 three-act play Modigliani by Dennis McIntyre. Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski wrote the screenplay.

The story happens over 48 hours. Its synopsis reads: “On the run from the police, Modi’s desire to 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.”

The play on which the movie was based involves a robbery attempt and Modigliani's reckoning with what his art means.

A Modigliani primer

Modigliani is known for painting portraits and nudes in a surrealist style, marked by elongated faces, necks and figures. His work was not well-received during his lifetime, but as is the case for most artists, they have become sought after by collectors and museums. The artist studied antiquity and Renaissance art in Italy, but moved to Paris in the early 1900s where he met contemporaries such as Pablo Picasso and Constantin Brâncuși.

Modigliani's arguably most famous painting is called Nude Sitting on a Divan (The Beautiful Roman Woman). It's an oil on canvas painting which was part of Modigliani's nude series painted in 1917. This particular painting was sold at Sotheby's in New York for $68.9 million in 2010, a record price for Modigliani's work and above the initial estimate of $40 million. Earlier that year, the artist's sculpture of a limestone head was bought in a Christie's Paris auction for $52.6 million.

Aside from being a musician and actor, Depp is also a painter. In 2022, he sold out his Friends & Heroes collection exhibited at a London art house. The collection included portraits of Modi star Pacino, as well as Elizabeth Taylor and Keith Richards (who was Depp's inspiration for his Jack Sparrow character and ended up playing his father in the Pirates of Caribbean movies).