Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness (it|Modì – Tre giorni sulle ali della follia) is a 2024 biographical drama film based on the life of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. It is directed by Johnny Depp from a screenplay by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski, which is based on the play Modigliani by Dennis McIntyre.
Produced by Depp's IN.2 Film, Salome Productions, Barry Navidi Productions, and Proton Cinema, it is a co-production between the United Kingdom, Hungary and Italy. It stars Riccardo Scamarcio in the leading role, with Stephen Graham, Al Pacino and Antonia Desplat playing supporting roles. The artist's life story, which was previously adapted for Montparnasse 19 (1958) and Modigliani (2004), is Depp's second directorial effort, following the 1997 film The Brave.
Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness had its premiere at the 72nd San Sebastián International Film Festival on 24 September 2024. The film was awarded the "Capri Cult Award" or "Cult Movie of the Year Award" at the 29th Capri Hollywood in Rome (Roma Fall Gala 2024) the day before the film premiered in Italy at the 19th Rome Film Festival on 26 October 2024.[4] [5] [6] The film was released in theatres in Italy on 21 November 2024.
The film explores 72 hours in the life of Bohemien Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, known to his friends as Modì, through the streets of war-torn Paris in 1916. On the run from the police, his desire to end his career and leave the city is dismissed by fellow Bohemiens: French artist Maurice Utrillo, the Belarusian-born Chaïm Soutine and English muse Beatrice Hastings. Modì seeks advice from his Polish art dealer and friend Léopold Zborowski. However, after a night of hallucinations, the chaos in Modì's mind reaches a crescendo when faced with an American collector, Maurice Gangnat, who has the power to change his life.
In the late 1970s, Al Pacino first had the idea to make a biopic about Amedeo Modigliani based on the play Modigliani by Dennis McIntyre. American film producer Keith Barish bought the rights for the play and gave Pacino full creative control. Pacino then flew Richard Price to Paris to start writing the script, using the play as the basis for the film. Initially, the script was given to American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola to direct, in 1979, with Bernardo Bertolucci and Martin Scorsese as the second and third choices for Pacino respectively. After being turned down by Coppola, Pacino presented the script to Scorsese, who was impressed by it. The two men found great difficulty in producing the film in the 1980s, due to studios not wanting to finance it.[7]
Mick Davis wrote a script for Modigliani in the 1990s and sent it to Scorsese. "Martin Scorsese told me it's one of the best screenplays he's ever read and could turn into either a movie or a theatre performance", said Davis in an interview in 2014. Al Pacino and 20th Century Studios received the screenplay not long thereafter and were happy with it but suggested Davis combine the new version of the script with the early one. Pacino was considered to be the director at this point, with Johnny Depp playing the leading role of Modigliani. Pacino first proposed the idea of doing a film about Modigliani to Depp, while they were shooting Donnie Brasco in 1997.[8] Davis, who was not satisfied with the idea of combining the two versions of the script, decided to make his version of the film in 2004, starring Andy García as the artist.
According to Barry Navidi, around 2012, he and Al Pacino were discussing the project, with the idea of Depp still playing the role of Modigliani. However, they did not manage to make it happen due to Depp's busy schedule at the time. Pacino asked Depp to direct the film before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
In August 2022, it was officially announced that Depp would direct and produce Modigliani, with Al Pacino and Barry Navidi producing.[9] The film is based on a play by Dennis McIntyre and adapted for the screen by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski. It is Depp's first directorial effort since The Brave, released in 1997, in which he starred alongside Marlon Brando. It is also Depp's third collaboration with Al Pacino, the other two being Donnie Brasco and Jack and Jill. Depp expressed his admiration of Modigliani in an official statement: "The saga of Mr. Modigliani's life is one that I'm incredibly honored, and truly humbled, to bring to the screen. It was a life of great hardship, but eventual triumph — a universally human story all viewers can identify with." Pacino, who initially pitched the idea of directing the biopic to Depp, stated: "This is a slice of Modì's life and not a bio. It's been a dream of mine to work with Johnny again — he's a true artist with an amazing vision to bring this great story to the screen."[10]
In May 2023, the film was announced to be titled Modì and the first round of casting was announced.[11] Riccardo Scamarcio and Pierre Niney were cast in the leading roles as Amedeo Modigliani and Maurice Utrillo respectively, while Al Pacino was cast as Gangnat.[12] [13] The film was sold for distribution during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival by The Veterans. In September 2023, Pierre Niney had exited the film, due to scheduling conflicts,[14] while Luisa Ranieri, Antonia Desplat, Stephen Graham, Bruno Gouery, Ryan McParland, Benjamin Lavernhe and Sally Phillips joined the cast.[15] On 11 October 2023, Romanian taraf singers Viorica and Ionita Manole announced on Instagram that they would appear in the film as singers, performing for Modigliani and his friends.[16]
Principal photography commenced in September 2023, in Budapest, Hungary. Some scenes were shot near Károlyi Garden, where the streets were decorated to look like Paris in the 1910s.[17] This prompted sightings of the cast and of Depp, and posts showing the location sets on Hungary's social media networks.[18] On 4 November 2023, filming wrapped in Budapest, with the cast and crew posting photos and celebrating on Instagram. A few days later, Depp took to Instagram to thank the cast and crew for their work on the project.[19] In January 2024, the scenes in which Al Pacino is featured were shot in Los Angeles.[20] Additional filming took place in Turin, Italy on 20 and 21 February 2024.[21] [22]
On 18 January 2024, just after filming had wrapped in Los Angeles, the first images from set were made available, alongside a statement by Depp:
In August 2024, the film was given the subtitle Three Days on the Wing of Madness. The film is produced by Depp's IN.2, a European sister company to his L.A.-based Infinitum Nihil, Salome Productions, Barry Navidi Productions and The Veterans, with local production in Budapest handled by Proton Cinema.[23] Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness is dedicated to rock musician Jeff Beck, who was a close friend of Depp's.[24]
On 31 August 2023, it was announced that Modì would be financially backed by the Red Sea Film Foundation, which had also supported Maïwenn's Jeanne du Barry, in which Depp played one of the leading roles.[25]
The film premiered out of competition at the 72nd San Sebastián International Film Festival on 24 September 2024, where it was met with praise and a long standing-ovation by the audience.[26] It premiered in Italy at the 19th Rome Film Festival on 26 October 2024 as closing film,[27] prior to being released in theatres in Italy by Be Water Film on 21 November 2024.[28] [29] The film will also play at the 4th Red Sea International Film Festival on 12 December 2024.[30]
As of 26 November 2024, Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness grossed $160,975 in Italy.