The Johnny Depp and Amanda Heard defamation trial was a hot topic for the months it ran back in April and May of 2022. If you were following it, you will undoubtedly have picked a side, and you’ll know the result too.
The trial attracted a huge amount of media attention though so it’s probably unsurprising that a movie is being made about it. What is perhaps more surprising is how soon it will come out.
Here is everything you need to know about Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial movie, including its release date and how to watch it.
Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial release date
30 September 2022
The Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial movie will be released on 30 September 2022.
The movie is said to have been fast tracked into production by Tubi and MarVista. Adam Lewinson, Tubi’s chief content officer told Variety the platform wanted to “capture a timely take on a story that became part of the cultural zeitgeist, painting a unique picture of what millions watched play out in the headlines over the summer”.
Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial how to watch
Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial will be available to watch on Fox’s streaming platform Tubi when it comes out. Tubi is a free streaming service in the US, but the platform is not available in the UK.
At the moment, it looks like the movie won’t be available to watch in the UK, though we will update this feature if we hear differently.
Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial plot
Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial is set to tell a dramatised story of the Johnny Depp and Amanda Heard defamation trial that ended on 1 June 2022.
The trial saw Depp sue Heard for $50 million claiming that Heard impacted Depp’s work when she allegedly implied he abused her in a Wasington Post article in 2018. She didn’t name him but Depp claimed the allegation stopped him getting acting jobs.
It’s said the movie will follow the relationship of Depp and Heard in and out of court, and tell the story of the two-month defamation trial.
The trial saw the jury side with Depp, awarding him $10 million in compensatory damages and $5m in punitive damages, though the latter was reduced. Heard won one of her three counterclaims, with Depp found liable for a defamatory statement made about Heard in 2016.
News recently came out that Depp was dating Joelle Rich, the lawyer who represented him in his UK lawsuit against The Sun newspaper. Rich wasn’t one of the lawyers who represented him in the Heard trial and while she was in the courtroom, the Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial movie isn’t expected to cover this new relationship.
Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial cast
Hot Take: The Depp/Heard Trial movie will see Johnny Depp played by Mark Hapka from Days of Our Lives, while Amanda Heard will be played by Megan Davis.
Melissa Marty from Station 19 will play Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez and Mary Carrig will play Amanda Heard’s lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft.
The film has been written by Guy Nicolucci and it will be directed by Sara Lohman. It’s been produced by produced by Brittany Clemons, Angie Day, Marianne C. Wunch, Hannah Pillemer and Fernando Szew.