Johnny Depp’s personal problems with his ex-wife Amber Heard and the scandal surrounding their divorce become a turning point for the star not only for his life but also for his career.
There has hardly been another Hollywood actor whose separation has led to such a wave of canceled roles and the industry’s reluctance to associate any of its projects with the name of Johnny Depp.
So far, the actor has received a “red card” from the “Fantastic Beasts” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchises, which left him unemployed and made it clear that they did not want to have anything to do with him after an article in the British newspaper The Sun and accusations that beat his ex-partner Amber Heard.
Although the information from the tabloid is controversial and many of Depp’s fans spoke in his defense, the “culture of cancellation” (cancel culture) for the star continues at full steam.
This is clear from a letter from director Andrew Levitas, who announced that his historical drama “Minamata” is about to be buried by the Metro studio Goldwyn Mayer because of the family problems of Johnny Depp.
The original plan for “Minamata” was to be released in the United States in a hybrid format, ie, both in theaters and online in February 2021, but this did not happen.
According to Levitas, MGM sales chief Sam Wallman told him that the studio had decided not to promote the drama and not to spread it in the United States, amid Depp’s lost defamation lawsuit against The Sun over published false information.
For the director with this move, the studio is unofficially trying to “bury his film”, just not to contact Johnny Depp, who is the star of the film.
In the historical drama, the actor plays photographer William Eugene Smith, who documents the effects of mercury poisoning after consuming seafood in the Japanese city of Minamata in the 1950s.
In an attempt to draw attention to the “mysterious” disease of the time and to show the suffering of thousands of victims after one of the largest industrial pollution the world has ever seen, the photographer published a series of photos in a book, self-financing his project.
The included photographs by Smith are touching. Children and the elderly can be seen whose bodies have been disfigured by being hit by heavy metal. Many babies during these years are born with horrible deformities, and premature death is common.
The photos provoked a wide response and investigation, which found that one of the major campaigns near the city dumped mercury into water bodies, poisoned marine life and, through them, people.
An international scandal ensues, the first of its kind to deal with pollution on such a dangerous and large scale.
Until Andrew Levitas’ film, this story is just a series of newspaper headlines listing dozens of facts, but not the stories of the people of the Japanese city on which the poisonous metal is poured.
The director’s idea is to present the events through their eyes, as well as from the point of view of the main character Eugene Smith, who sheds light on what is happening in Minamata with his camera.
It turns out, however, that Levitas forgot to read the yellow column about the actor he chose for the lead role, and now this may cost him the distribution of the film.
“About a year ago, MGM acquired the rights to release Minamata in North America. Imagine the disappointment of the people whose tragedy the film tells of when they learned that despite its successful worldwide distribution, MGM decided to bury the film by not distributing it. in the United States, because of the personal problems of the actor who played the lead role in it, because all this can affect their image. It turns out that the victims of the disaster, which is described in the film, are insignificant for the studio, “the director wrote.
He called on MGM to rethink its decision, as “Minamata” is not a film about the divorce of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, but about the victims of a crime that has been ignored for decades.
“I hope MGM will honor its moral commitment and support this film. The dead children, their brothers, sisters and parents, and all of humanity owe it. This story is a turning point for so many lives. Why is it less important than personal problems?” of an actor “, the director asks.
The film studio has not yet responded to his appeal, and the future of Minamata Overseas is unknown. And along with the anticipation of their position, the question remains – how long will the divorce of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard hinder the professional path of the actor and will hinder everyone who “dared” to work with him.
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