Cannes Film Festival opens with Johnny Depp's French comeback drama

The Cannes Film Festival was set for a stormy start on Tuesday, with Johnny Depp making his comeback in the opening film, showing off his French skills as King Louis XV.

The 59-year-old's career has nosedived in Hollywood, despite his victory in a defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard last year that featured bitter domestic violence allegations.

But Depp has been gradually returning to work and will hit the red carpet for the opening night in Cannes with French period drama "Jeanne du Barry" about the 18th-century monarch who fell in love with a prostitute.

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Festival director Thierry Fremaux told reporters he was "not interested" in Depp's trial, adding: "I am interested in Depp the actor."

Michael Douglas will also attend the opening ceremony to receive an honorary Palme d'Or.

The French Riviera festival, which runs until May 27, includes a slew of hot-ticket premieres, including "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" on Wednesday, the fifth and final outing for Harrison Ford as the whip-cracking archaeologist.

Saturday will see Martin Scorsese present his latest epic, "Killers of the Flower Moon", alongside stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.

That day also sees Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore in indie favourite Todd Haynes's "May December".

It is among 21 films competing for the top prize Palme d'Or, by a record seven women directors.

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Fremaux said increasing women's representation at the festival was a "fundamental question" but "I refuse congratulations, it is an evolution. We don't look at the gender, we select movies."

Several Palme laureates are back in competition, including Britain's two-time winner Ken Loach, Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda and Germany's Wim Wenders.

The jury is led by last year's winner, Sweden's Ruben Ostlund ("Triangle of Sadness"), and also includes Hollywood stars Brie Larson and Paul Dano.

Around a thousand police and security guards are in place for the festival, amid fears of protests linked to President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reforms, with the CGT union even threatening to cut power.

- 'A lot of worries' -
Depp's "Jeanne du Barry" has reportedly yet to secure US distribution.

His dialogue in the film is kept to short phrases that help disguise his American accent.

Maiwenn, the French star who directs and plays the lead role, admitted she was worried about the impact of his legal woes.

"The film was shot last summer and he was coming out of his second trial," Maiwenn, who goes by a single name, told AFP last week.

"I had a lot of worries. I was wondering: 'what will his image become?'" she said.

But she faces her own controversies.

In March, a well-known French journalist, Edwy Plenel of Mediapart, lodged a criminal complaint against Maiwenn, accusing her of approaching him in a restaurant, grabbing him by the hair and spitting in his face.

She refused to discuss the "ongoing case" with AFP, but admitted the assault in an interview on French TV, without going into details.

Depp was axed from Harry Potter spin-off "Fantastic Beasts" following Heard's abuse allegations, but he is a long way from being "cancelled".

He has secured a record $20 million deal to remain the face of Dior fragrance, according to Variety last week.

He is also set to direct Al Pacino in a biopic of artist Amedeo Modigliani later this year.

Films in completion

The Cannes Film Festival returns from May 16 to 27, bringing a huge number of stars and celebrated filmmakers to France's Cote d'Azur.

Here is a list of the 21 films competing for the top prize Palme d'Or, as well as a selection of other movies premiering out of competition.

- In competition -
- "Asteroid City" by Wes Anderson

The king of quirky, Anderson divides audiences and almost never wins awards, but is loved by actors. His latest -- about American space cadets -- stars Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson and Edward Norton, to name but a few.

- "The Zone of Interest" by Jonathan Glazer

Based on a book by Martin Amis about a romance in the Auschwitz concentration camp, the long-awaited return of this British director ("Under the Skin", "Sexy Beast") has arthouse fans salivating.

- "May December" by Todd Haynes

Haynes wowed Cannes with lesbian drama "Carol" in 2015 starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. His latest pairs two more big-hitters, Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, for the story of an actress meeting the couple at the heart of a tabloid scandal.

- "Monster" by Hirokazu Kore-eda

Japan's Kore-eda won the Palme for his touching family drama "Shoplifters" in 2018. "Monster" unfolds multiple viewpoints, "Rashomon"-style, to explain a child's disturbing behaviour.

- "The Old Oak" by Ken Loach

The 86-year-old Brit is one of cinema's most politically engaged directors, and has won the Palme twice, for Irish civil war drama "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" in 2006 and "I, Daniel Blake" 10 years later. Possibly his final film, this focuses on Syrian refugees in Britain.

- "Firebrand" by Karim Ainouz

Jude Law and Alicia Vikander star as English king Henry VIII and his sixth wife Catherine Parr in a period drama from Brazilian director Karim Ainouz.

- "Black Flies" by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire

A young paramedic (Tye Sheridan) learns the ropes from a grizzled New York veteran (Sean Penn). There is much interest in the supporting role for Mike Tyson.

- "Homecoming" by Catherine Corsini

Dogged by controversy over an underage sex scene, this got a delayed competition slot. It follows an African family returning to Corsica years after a tragedy on the French island.

- "Perfect Days" by Wim Wenders

Wenders made two of the most iconic 1980s films in "Paris, Texas" and "Wings of Desire", winning the Palme and best director at Cannes. Since then, his features have gained less attention than his documentaries such as "Buena Vista Social Club". His new, Japan-set film charts a toilet cleaner's unexpected past.

- "About Dry Grasses" by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

The Turkish filmmaker's meditative tales require patience but have scooped up many prizes in Cannes, including the 2014 Palme for "Winter Sleep". His new film follows a frustrated teacher in a remote village.

- "Fallen Leaves" by Aki Kaurismaki

The Finnish director, now on his 19th film, is a fixture of the arthouse circuit, known for darkly funny looks at marginalised groups. This is billed as a gentle tragicomedy about two lonely hearts at a Helsinki nightclub.

- "A Brighter Tomorrow" by Nanni Moretti

Moretti is another past winner (for "The Son's Room" in 2001). Here, the Italian stars as a 1950s director.

- "Club Zero" by Jessica Hausner

The Austrian directs Mia Wasikowska as a teacher in an elite school who forms a dangerous bond with students engaged in protesting the climate crisis.

- "Four Daughters" by Kaouther Ben Hania

The Tunisian director received an Oscar nomination for "The Man Who Sold his Skin". Her follow-up mixes documentary and fiction in the story of a woman whose daughters suddenly disappear.

- "Anatomy of a Fall" by Justine Triet

A thriller about a woman with a blind son suspected of her husband's murder.

- "La Chimera" by Alice Rohrwacher

Isabella Rossellini stars in the story of a group of archaeologists working in the black market for historical artefacts.

- "Shanghai Youth" by Wang Bing

A rare documentary in the competition, it follows the lives of China's migrant workers.

- "Banel et Adama" by Ramata-Toulaye Sy

The debut feature from the French-Senegalese director looks at the difficulties of young love in a Senegalese village.

- "Rapito" by Marco Bellocchio

The 83-year-old Italian cineaste returns with the true story of a Jewish boy taken from his family to be raised as a Catholic by Pope Pius IX.

- "The Pot-au-Feu" by Tran Anh Hung

The Vietnamese-French director adapts a classic 1920s French novel about fictional foodie Dodin Bouffant.

- "Last Summer" by Catherine Breillat

Known for her sexually transgressive films, Breillat has remade critically-acclaimed 2019 Danish film "Queen of Hearts" about a woman's affair with her stepson.

- Out of competition -
These films are also being premiered, but are not competing for the Palme d'Or:

- "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" by James Mangold

- "Killers of the Flower Moon" by Martin Scorsese

- "Occupied City" by Steve McQueen

- "The Idol" by Sam Levinson

- "Cobweb" by Kim Jee-woon

- "Kennedy" by Anurag Kashyap

- "Kubi" by Takeshi Kitano

- "Anselm" by Wim Wenders