This morning, Jeff Sneider had social media snowflakes in damn-near meltdown when he reported that Johnny Depp and Sydney Sweeney were set to star in Marc Webb’s “Day Drinker.” The film is based on an original story by Zach Dean (“The Tomorrow War”) and unfolds along coastal France, Portugal, and Spain.
Sneider has read the first 25 pages of “Day Drinker” and liked what he saw — it’s the perfect indie for Sweeney to star in.
The story spans love, friendship, and revenge and is said to revolve around the bond between an enigmatic stranger and a bartender mourning the loss of her lover.
Now, Depp being the toxic figure that he is, in certain corners of the internet, teaming up with Sweeney — who has a major fanbase of younger fans — is something that certain folks couldn’t quite grasp. How dare she!
It didn’t take long for backlash to occur, and for Sweeney’s reps to deny Sneider’s report. Here’s what I find utterly strange about this whole thing — Sneider claims that he had three separate sources, very reliable ones, telling him that the story was, in fact, true. That, my friends, is what I like to call strong sourcing.
Sneider tells me that the trades have been “sitting” in reporting on this project for a while. Probably because it’s not a closed deal, but Sneider never said it was a done deal.
Of course, then there’s Johnny Depp and something tells me that is where all of the pushback is stemming from. Depp was quickly deemed persona non grata in Hollywood because of former wife Amber Heard’s domestic violence accusations. He had to go to court to get his good name back, but, even after his victory, he’s still not very welcomed in many industry circles.
The pre-trial narrative was that Depp abused Heard and that she was a #MeToo survivor, but perceptions have slightly changed, post-trial, in Depp’s favor. Of course, it’s not enough for a court of law to conclude that Heard defamed Depp, not in 2024 —in many circles, Depp remains a pariah. He’s the still the abuser.
It doesn’t matter that people like Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Al Pacino, and Terry Gilliam are on Depp’s side — rather, it’s once accused, always accused. Cancel culture at its finest. If I’m Sweeney, I say “to heck with them,” and sign up for Webb’s film.
I’ve contacted Depp’s reps for comment and will update this story accordingly.
