Johnny Depp Goes Full Chaos in the First ‘Day Drinker’ Trailer With Madelyn Cline and Penélope Cruz

Johnny Depp’s return to studio filmmaking has been one of Hollywood’s most closely watched comebacks, and ‘Day Drinker’ is set to be a major part of it. Variety notes the Lionsgate thriller will be one of the first Hollywood-backed movies to bring Depp back to the big screen following his 2022 trial against ex-wife Amber Heard.

The buildup started with a bang. On September 23, the film’s official account shared a 19-second preview featuring a deck of tarot cards surrounded by lit candles, a single frame of Depp in character, and an axe crashing down into the cards as he growls that he’s done only when he says he’s done.

A day later, Lionsgate delivered on that promise with the first trailer for ‘Day Drinker’, confirming the film arrives exclusively in theaters on March 26, 2027. The footage shows a grey-haired Depp with a scraggly beard, eerie eyes, and a thick accent, getting thrown to the ground and arrested, according to Deadline.

At one point, his character wonders aloud whether his story is a tale of revenge, a ghost story, or simply the tale of another day drinker. Critics can’t quite agree on that accent, either. The Hollywood Reporter described it as Irish, while TheWrap wondered whether it might be Scottish, calling it bizarre and almost unintelligible.

Directed by Marc Webb and written by Zach Dean, whose credits include ‘The Tomorrow War’ and ‘Fast X’, the film follows a private-yacht bartender played by Cline who encounters a mysterious guest played by Depp. The official logline says the pair soon get entangled with a criminal figure played by Cruz and discover they’re connected in ways no one saw coming.

The Playlist describes it as a revenge thriller with crime, mystery, and an unexpected supernatural element. TheWrap also spotted ‘John Wick’-style revenge flourishes, which makes sense given that ‘Wick’ producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee are among the film’s producers, and even raised the question of whether Cruz might be playing a witch.

Don’t you sometimes want to misbehave?

Day Drinker starring Johnny Depp, Madelyn Cline, and Penélope Cruz – in theaters March 26, 2027. pic.twitter.com/UHhRAGKwI7

— Day Drinker (@DayDrinkerMovie) September 24, 2026

‘Day Drinker’ also brings Depp and Cruz back together on screen. The pair previously shared the screen in ‘Blow’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’, and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’.

For Cline, the film marks her first project since wrapping ‘Outer Banks’, the Netflix series that made her a star as Sarah Cameron. The show premiered in 2020 and concluded with its fifth season in August.

The supporting cast includes Manu Ríos, Arón Piper, Juan Diego Botto, and Anika Boyle. Javier Aguirresarobe serves as cinematographer, while Thunder Road Films, Depp’s Infinitum Nihil, and Nostromo Pictures are behind the production.

Step into the dark.#DayDrinker starring Johnny Depp, Madelyn Cline, and Penélope Cruz – in theaters March 26, 2027. pic.twitter.com/7uvlJfyq8R

— Day Drinker (@DayDrinkerMovie) September 24, 2026

The trailer arrives just a couple of months after the first footage from ‘Ebenezer’, Ti West’s take on ‘A Christmas Carol’, in which Depp plays Ebenezer Scrooge. That Paramount film hits theaters on November 13, giving audiences 2 major Depp releases within a few months.

The Hollywood Reporter pointed out that the back-to-back projects represent a double dose of Depp following his Hollywood estrangement. He had previously starred in ‘Jeanne du Barry’ and directed ‘Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness’.

Cruz is having a busy stretch as well. She recently starred in the acclaimed drama ‘La Bola Negra’ and will appear in the romantic comedy ‘Paris Paramount’ alongside Kieran Culkin, Jude Law, and Owen Wilson.

With a strange, genre-bending premise and Depp clearly leaning into an offbeat performance, ‘Day Drinker’ looks like it could be one of the more unpredictable thrillers of early next year.

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