Al Pacino joins the cast of Johnny Depp-directed Modi

Johnny Depp and Al Pacino are set to work together for the first time since 1997's Donnie Brasco.

Depp will direct Pacino in Modi, which, despite its title, is not about the reigning Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi but the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. Specifically, the film will focus on 48 hours in Modigliani's life in 1916, as he runs from police through the streets of war-torn Paris and debates whether to end his artistic career.

Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio, probably best known to American audiences for his role as the villain of John Wick: Chapter 2, will star as Modigliani. Pacino will play an international art dealer known as Gangnat, and is also a co-producer on the film. Deadline was first to report the news of Pacino's involvement, which Depp's production company Infinitum Nihil subsequently confirmed on Twitter.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; SC Pool - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images Al Pacino will appear in the upcoming film 'Modi,' directed by Johnny Depp

Modi is only Depp's second time in the director's chair, following his 1997 directorial debut The Brave in which he starred alongside Marlon Brando. As of now, Depp isn't set to appear in Modi — though he will make his return to the big screen as an actor in Jeanne du Barry, which will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and feature Depp playing King Louis XV of France.

During a highly-publicized legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard last year, Depp claimed that his career and reputation were damaged by a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which Heard identified herself as a public figure representing domestic abuse. A jury in Fairfax County, Va., agreed, awarding the actor $15 million in damages (which the judge reduced to $10.35 million in accordance with state law).

Europe is a long way from Hollywood, but Depp's cinematic comeback appears to be underway.

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