Johnny Depp Directorial Debut Was So Bad That He Didn’t Release It (Photo Credit – Prime Video)
Advertisement
Back in 1997, Johnny Depp stepped behind the camera for the first time. The Brave marked his debut as a director, and he went all in—writing, directing, and starring in the movie. But after a rough reception at Cannes, he walked away from it. There was no U.S. theatrical release, no campaign to save it, and the movie quietly vanished.
More than two decades later, The Brave still hasn’t surfaced in the States. It holds a 33% score on Rotten Tomatoes and is rarely mentioned in discussions of Depp’s work. He hasn’t tried to reintroduce it to new audiences either. His stance was clear from the start: he’d “rather put it in a vault.”
Despite being nearly forgotten, the way Depp handled the movie tells a lot about how personally he took the reaction. This wasn’t just a failed movie; it became something he actively distanced himself from. Let’s dive deeper!
The Brave wasn’t some vanity side project. The Pirates of the Caribbean actor adapted it from Gregory McDonald’s novel, put up some of his own money, and cast himself as Raphael – a desperate Native American man who agrees to die on camera in a snuff movie for $50K. It was grim, slow, and deeply personal, with Marlon Brando also appearing in a supporting role.
The movie premiered at Cannes in 1997 and landed hard. Critics didn’t just pan it – they gutted it. The Los Angeles Times noted how shaken the actor was by the blowback. He’d expected criticism, but he felt closer to humiliation. He said, “This was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. It just about ripped me to shreds.”
So, he pulled back. No press tour. No studio push. No American release. For a major star, it was an unusual move – deliberately pulling your own movie off the table. But Depp stuck to it, and The Brave disappeared from the scene completely.
The film was released theatrically in 1997 and saw a limited release in international markets, both in theaters and on DVD. But it was never released in the United States. The actor made a conscious decision to keep it away from the general public, which had already torn it apart.
A Movie That Won’t Die, Even If Johnny Depp Wishes It Would
Ask the few who’ve seen it, and opinions vary. Some admire its ambition, its refusal to soften hard themes. Others say it’s slow and emotionally flat. The pacing is uneven, and the payoff never quite arrives. But there’s no question Depp put a lot of himself into it. He wasn’t aiming for commercial success. He was trying to say something.
So, even if it didn’t land doesn’t make it meaningless. In fact, the way he buried it has made it more fascinating to some. Over the years, it’s become a sort of lost movie – one that fans still track down on foreign DVDs or grainy uploads. What’s strange is that Johnny Depp never returned to directing. Maybe The Brave soured him on it for good. Or maybe some wounds just don’t fade.
