Johnny Depp is directing a film about Jewish Italian painter Modigliani

(JTA) – Riding a wave of tabloid notoriety after winning his highly publicized defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp is planning to direct a biopic about a different troubled figure: the Jewish Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani.

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" star is partnering with Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino to produce the film, which will be adapted from the 1979 play "Modigliani" by Dennis McIntyre. It will chronicle the life of the artist whose portraits and sculptures of Parisian women (often in the nude, with elongated faces and limbs) posthumously made him the t...