On a picturesque day in the south of France, a crowd of Johnny Depp fans lined the Croisette, shouting and snapping photos as the beleaguered movie star graced the world’s most famous red carpet. ‘Jeanne du Barry’, which marks Depp’s first starring film role in three years since ongoing legal battles with ex-wife Amber Heard stalled his Hollywood career, opened the 76th edition of the Cannes film festival.

Depp recently won a libel case in the United States against Heard, who was ordered to pay the star $10 million in damages, and is trying to make a comeback. But the move was criticized by some and embraced by others, including Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux, who said earlier in the festival “I care about Johnny Depp as an actor.”

As Depp, sporting a slicked back ponytail and tinted purple shades, exited his black car, shouts echoed throughout the sprawling complex that houses the festival, with fans hanging out photos for the actor to sign, while shouting “Johnny, Johnny, Johnny”. “We’ve got your back,” a young woman shouted, trying to get Depp’s attention. Inside the theater, where most of the audience had been seated long before the stars strutted their way to the media and fans, Depp’s arrival was met with stony silence. However, when he entered the Palace, the public gave him a resounding ovation.

Depp remains a controversial figure, with some Hollywood studios wary of working with an actor who had such a tangled personal life and had developed a reputation for showing up on sets unprepared. But in Cannes, the reception is enthusiastic. Fans who spoke with Variety said they hadn’t paid attention to the Heard trial. A 26-year-old woman, Louisa, who traveled from Switzerland in hopes of securing a ticket to the ‘Jeanne du Barry’ premiere and other screenings at Cannes, said she and her friends had no not discuss the fight in the courtroom as it unfolded. . “I’m not very interested in personal life stories,” she said.

Depp was joined by director Maïwenn, who made headlines of her own ahead of this year’s glamorous gathering of films. The French filmmaker admitted to spitting on a journalist, whose publication had reported that several women had accused her ex-husband Luc Besson of rape. Needless to say, “Jeanne du Barry” was one of the most talked about films at the festival this year. Other trending films adorning the French Riviera include Martin Scorsese’s detective epic “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Todd Haynes’ romantic drama “May December” and Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City”, an offbeat comedy starring Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks and Jason Schwartzman.

Earlier Tuesday evening, Cannes Jury President Ruben Östlund walked the carpet with members of the jury including Brie Larson, Paul Dano and ‘Titane’ director Julia Ducournau as speakers yelled “I Want You Back” by the Jackson 5 and “Badlands” by Bruce Springsteen. There were other Hollywood emissaries and global movie stars basking in the fading sunlight and flashes. Those bold names included Uma Thurman, dazzling in a long, flowing red train to match the carpet, as well as Mads Mikkelsen, present for the premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate”; Helen Mirren, armed with an opera fan and blue hair straight out of “The Hunger Games”; Chinese actor Gong Li; and Elle Fanning, who was recently tapped to appear alongside Timothée Chalamet in James Mangold’s biopic Bob Dylan.

The opulence and glamor on display stood in stark contrast to the labor turmoil rocking the entertainment industry, where a Writers Guild of America strike slowed productions. There are also fears that directors and actors will join the picket lines when their contracts expire next month, making it nearly impossible to make big movies. Not to mention a potential recession and the economic challenges of inflation, which are making it increasingly difficult to produce the kind of cinema celebrated by Cannes each year.

In the United States, screenwriters say the rise of streaming services has upended the way they are paid for their work. Shows have shorter seasons, they say, and film and TV projects don’t give them their fair share of licensing revenue when they appear on Netflix and other platforms. Cannes has been a bastion of the cinematic experience, and Östlund used his time on the mic on opening night to take a look at the new way of distributing entertainment.

“When we look at things alone, we process the images in a completely different way. The algorithm doesn’t want us to think,” he told the crowd inside the Palace.

Chiara Mastroianni, the actress and daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni, entered the ceremony singing a song in Italian and gave a speech on the genesis of the festival, created on the eve of the Second World War to fight against the endemic fascism.

Cannes, she says, was an “act of resistance, founded in September 1939, on the eve of a tragedy… The raison d’être of this festival remains the exaltation of our freedom. Freedom to dare, to imagine and to create.

Before the jury took the stage, Dano took selfies with fans while socially distancing, standing so far away from strangers they had to extend their reach to get them in on the action. But other than that, COVID, which turned the 2020 edition upside down and clouded the 2021 and 2022 festivals, was a distant memory as Cannes returned to business as usual. Elsewhere outside the Palace, ushers continued an absolute no-selfie rule, instituted in 2019, as they attempted to tackle any guest on the carpet who even looked like they were thinking of touching their phone.

Above is an image of Catherine Deneuve looked at the congregation of moviegoers and movie stars. The photo, a still from 1968’s ‘La Chamade’ (Heartbeat), serves as the poster for this year’s festival, as well as a reminder of Cannes’ decades-long legacy and central role in highlighting the an art form that continues to endure despite myriad threats.

Elsa Keslassy, ​​Elizabeth Wagmeister and Ramin Setoodeh contributed to this report.