Updated 9th February, 2021 for clarification of release information.
Johnny Depp was once one of the most bankable movie stars in the world, but Minamata's small-scale release illustrates just how far he's fallen. From the moment he debuted in the slasher classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, it was clear Depp had that "it factor," a charisma that drew one's eye to him when he was onscreen. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, Depp became a TV star on 21 Jump Street, then earned acclaim for his offbeat character work in the movies of Tim Burton, as well as performances in other unique independent films.
While Depp definitely had a fanbase, it was 2003's Captain Jack Sparrow remains one of the great characters to emerge from the 21st century so far, and he would reprise the role in multiple sequels. For a time, each new movie Depp starred in would be promoted as an event, and he was a pretty reliable box office attraction, even with the occasional misstep.
That is until his marriage to actress Amber Heard in 2012. The relationship seemed a bit odd from the beginning, including a strange incident in which the couple smuggled their dogs into Australia and were briefly brought up on charges. It was their divorce in 2016 that really tarnished Depp's image though, as he was accused of domestic abuse. In the years since, Depp has come to be seen as a villain in the eyes of many, although he's denied the allegations and accused Heard of fabricating them. To see how far his star has truly fallen though, one need only look at the strange case of the release of Minamata.
To be sure, Minamata was never going to be a big blockbuster release. It's a fact-based independent drama that casts Depp as real-life war photographer W. Eugene Smith, who helped document and shine a light on the tragic effects of mercury poisoning in the titular Japanese city, which was caused by industrial waste from a nearby chemical factory. However, before the Depp/Heard scandals, which also notably caused him to lose the role of Grindelwald in the Fantastic Beasts franchise last year, a movie like Minamata probably would've been pushed for award season, picked up for distribution by a major studio, and received at least a fairly large theatrical release.
With Depp's career in its current state, Minamata is being released by the recently revived American International Pictures, and being quietly plopped into whatever theaters are willing to show it during the continued Coronavirus pandemic. Minamata's marketing has also been minimal, to the point where some of Depp's own fans may not be aware he even has a new movie coming out. When it was acquired by MGM, as reported in October 2020, it was set for a release date of Feb. 5, 2021 - a fact seemingly corroborated at the time by director Andrew Levitas' Instagram, but the date came and the film seemingly never arrived. Release information online retained that announced date, though Levitas posted clippings to Instagram a week before release citing the 5th as an incorrect date.
An official statement from MGM confirmed to ScreenRant that "the release date for the film is currently unset." That no official date or delay was announced widely is confusing, but speaks to the fact that the news around the film's release reflects a change in Depp's status. Not the decision to remove the release date, because that makes sense in the pandemic, but that the news of a change was completely missed to the point that a box office figure was reported for the movie. Fans of Depp may want to see Minamata and it has collected awards attention ahead of release, but finding any sort of news that it wasn't coming out on February 5th was near impossible. Levitas himself posted in January that "many of our distribution partners have elected to push the release of Minamata a bit later in the year when cinemas are more likely to be open," but it was seemingly overlooked. Googling the release date of Minamata still results in February 5th, 2021 and it's a sorry testament to the strange story of the film's non-release. Hopefully, it will be released later in the year to bring what is a compelling story to the screen finally.
