Johnny Depp’s "Modi" Wraps Production

Production has wrapped on Johnny Depp’s upcoming Amadeo Modigliani bio-pic "Modi", his second directorial effort after his 1997 feature "The Brave".

The acclaimed actor, 60, announced on Instagram that he'd finished production on "Modi", an independent project from IN.2 Film about Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, produced by Al Pacino.

"To my dear ‘Modi’ film family, Köszönöm for all your exceptional efforts without which this film could not have been made," Depp wrote alongside a photo from Budapest, Hungary, of himself applauding crew members.

"Please accept my eternal admiration, appreciation, respect and love, JD. X," he added.

Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio plays the titular painter and sculptor, with Al Pacino, in the role of art collector Maurice Gangnat. Luisa Ranieri will play Rosalie Tobia, the owner of a Paris cafe frequented by impoverished artists, who took Modigliani under her wing when he was down and out.

The cast also includes Stephen Graham, Bruno Gouery, Ryan McParland, Benjamin Lavernhe, Sally Phillips, Antonia Desplat, and more.

The movie is based on a play by Dennis McIntyre and adapted for the screen by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski. 

It follows 48 hours in the life of Modigliani in World War One Paris. His desire to prematurely 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 movie also marks Depp's second big-screen project after his defamation trial with ex-wife Amber Heard, which ended in June 2022. 

In May, Depp appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, where his French movie "Jeanne Du Barry" served as the festival opener. The following month, the movie was acquired by Vertical for North American distribution.

A source told PEOPLE in June that the Hollywood star, who also toured with his supergroup the Hollywood Vampires this summer, has "moved on from last year and is happy" at this point in his life.

"In the last year, he's been able to touch all these different parts of his life that he hadn't been able to do that much before because he was so busy dealing with the matters tied to the Amber trial," the source said. "It's nice for him to be an artist first and foremost."