PARIS - French film production company Why Not Productions has released the first look of American actor Johnny Depp King as Louis XV of France. This is his first movie since the defamation trial against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard.

Depp, 59, stars in the historical romance Jeanne Du Barry, which is inspired by the life of Madame du Barry, the last royal mistress of Louis XV.

The film will be directed by French actress and director Maiwenn Le Besco, 46, who will star as the titular character.

Depp ispretty much unrecognisable in the teaser image released by Why Not Productions, as he is blindfolded, wears a blonde wig and sports an 18th century gold regal jacket.

The shooting of the film began on July 26, with filming taking place in several locations in France and is expected to last for 11 weeks, according to entertainment website Deadline.

Th film will also featureactors such as Benjamin Lavernhe, Pierre Richard and Melvil Poupaud.

Jeanne Du Barry came after the conclusion of Depp's high-profile defamation case against Heard, 36, in the United States in June.

The jury awarded US$10 million (S$13.7 million) in damages to Depp and US$2 million to Heard on one of her counterclaims.

The movie would be Depp's first since the independent film Minamata (2020), in which he played American war photographer W. Eugene Smith.

Depp was supposed to reprise his role as dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore (2022), but he was dropped from the movie in November 2020 after losing a libel case in Britain against a tabloid that branded him a "wife beater".

The role of Grindelwald eventually went to Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen.