The controversial and sensationalised trial of Hollywood actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has now been converted into a movie. The film, called Hot Take, is a dramatised and fictionalised retelling of the Depp-Heard’s defamation trial.
Mark Hapka of Days of Our Lives fame plays Johnny Depp, while Megan Davis is seen channelling Amber Heard in the released promo by free streaming service Tubi. Although seemingly on the nose (the film’s title is a good indication of that), Hot Take will apparently present both sides of the story. At one point in the video, Hapka’s Depp is heard saying, “Look man, look what she said about me,” even as we hear Megan’s Amber say, “It scared me.”
The film also will be throwing spotlight on how Heard’s testimony during trial was mocked on the internet. Apart from Hapka and Davis, Hot Take also features Melissa Marty and Mary Carrig as the actors’ lawyers.
The feature will not only revolve around the trial of the two celebrities, but will also showcase their relationship and the trajectories it took in some detail. The jury ruled that Heard had defamed Depp by alluding to the alleged domestic violence she suffered at the hands of the actor in a 2018 opinion article, while Depp was held liable for defaming Amber in turn via his lawyer’s statement. Earlier, in 2020, Depp lost his UK libel lawsuit against British tabloid The Sun for calling him a “wife-beater.” Heard had testified to back up the claims.
Hot Take is an attempt to “capture a timely take on a story that became part of the cultural zeitgeist, painting a unique picture of what millions watched play out in the headlines over the summer,” Variety quoted Tubi chief content officer Adam Lewinson as saying.
The film will release on September 30 on Tubi.