Washington, Dec 11 (UNI) Hollywood actor Johnny Depp is set to produce, and may also star in, the first English-language film adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s revered Russian novel, The Master and Margarita, according to reports by Variety.
The project, which currently does not have a director attached, will be produced through Depp’s IN.2 Film banner in collaboration with Jeanne du Barry executive producer Svetlana Dali and Grace Loh. Alongside Depp, producers include Stephen Deuters and Stephen Malit.
The announcement was made at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival during the Red Sea Souk market, where Depp and the producers made a surprise appearance. While the Red Sea Fund partially financed Depp’s 2023 film Jeanne du Barry, it is not involved in this new project.
Production on The Master and Margarita is expected to begin in late 2026, according to Variety. The story is set between 1930s Moscow—where the devil returns with his talking cat to wreak havoc among corrupt citizens—and Jerusalem during the time of Pontius Pilate. It intertwines a fantastical, satirical tale of love, artistic freedom, and the eternal battle between good and evil.
A third narrative thread follows a struggling writer and his lover, Margarita, who will do anything to protect him from a totalitarian system. The synopsis describes the story as “a darkly comic, wildly imaginative tale of inexhaustible energy, philosophical depth, and spiritual rebellion—a timeless reminder of art’s power to challenge, illuminate and endure,” according to Variety.
This project marks Depp’s anticipated Hollywood comeback following his high-profile court battles with ex-wife Amber Heard. In addition to The Master and Margarita, Depp is reportedly in final talks to play Ebenezer Scrooge in Paramount Pictures’ dark adaptation of A Christmas Carol, directed by Ti West, and is attached to star alongside Penélope Cruz in Lionsgate’s upcoming action thriller Day Drinker, directed by Marc Webb.
These projects will be Depp’s first major studio roles since 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Variety reported.
Johnny Depp returns to Hollywood with ‘The Master and Margarita’
