Johnny Depp hasn’t traditionally been a social media user, but he joined Instagram last year to connect with fans during the pandemic, initially sharing video messages and song covers. Since then, he’s intermittently used the platform, but with everything going on in his personal life lately, he hasn’t maintained a regular presence online. Last Friday, however, the former Pirates of the Caribbean star shared a rare update on his account to promote his latest movie, crime thriller City of Lies.
Depp offered up a poster for the film, which is based on the investigation into the deaths of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur, along with a message thanking the real-life figures for allowing the biopic to be made. Here’s his full caption:
“Thank you to Voletta Wallace and the Poole family for allowing Brad, Forest, myself and the crew to tell this timely and important story. Truth is a rare bird. All the more reason to search for it. ‘City of Lies’ in US theatres today. VOD on April 9th. More territories to be added soon.”
For more, here’s the synopsis for City of Lies, which sees Depp star as detective Russell Poole alongside Forest Whitaker as journalist Jack Jackson:
“Los Angeles Police Department detective Russell Poole has spent years trying to solve his biggest case — the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur — but after two decades, the investigation remains open. Jack Jackson, a reporter desperate to save his reputation and career, is determined to find out why. In search of the truth, the two team up and unravel a growing web of institutional corruption and lies.”
Though it’s only just hitting theaters and VOD now, City of Lies was actually filmed way back in 2017. Its first trailer – released under the movie’s original title, LAbyrinth – dropped on May 21st, 2018, on what would have been Notorious B.I.G.’s 46th birthday. It was supposed to come out on September 7th that year, the 22nd anniversary of Tupac’s murder, but it was pulled from the schedule due to various lawsuits, including one between Depp and the film’s location manager.
After this long, arduous road to the screen, City of Lies is being received fairly well. Its Tomatometer score is only 54% but users on Rotten Tomatoes are much more favorable, awarding it 78%. Like Johnny Depp says in his Instagram post, catch it now in theaters or rent/purchase it online if you’ve yet to do so.