From Hollywood to the red carpet: Johnny Depp and Will Smith stun at Saudi Arabia’s top film event

The Saudi Arabia event opened with the premiere of HWJN, based on the best-selling Saudi fantasy novel by Ibraheem Abbas. A synopsis on the festival’s website explains that the film “is set in a world where djinn have crossed a traditional barrier and are living invisibly among humans” and takes viewers “into a kingdom of the imagination where anything seems possible.”

Johnny Depp’s film Jeanne du Barry will be shown on Friday after debuting at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in May. He walked the red carpet dressed in a sleek, all-black tuxedo.

Smith — who will speak on Saturday — was also seen arriving at the event dressed in a dark black suit and black dress shoes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he was approached by many fans asking for selfies and posed for as many as possible on the red carpet.

While Sofía Vergara didn’t walk the red carpet, she spoke on stage during the event’s opening ceremony. Her appearance came on the same day that Netflix dropped a new trailer for her upcoming limited series, Griselda.

Other notable guests included Sharon Stone and Michelle Williams, per Deadline. When announced as the head of the competition jury, Baz Luhrmann (who was also in attendance) said the title was a “great honor.”

“As a child in the local cinema that we ran near the tiny country town where I grew up, I was mesmerized by the powerful historical and physical landscapes of Lawrence of Arabia. Since that time, I have had an abiding passion for the Arabian world, but after visiting Saudi Arabia, I felt truly inspired by the remarkable young filmmaking talent coming up across the region and to see how they are now capturing the attention of the global film community,” a statement from the Elvis director read.

The festival’s website states that the multi-day event is “for film lovers, filmmakers, and the global film industry.”

“See the blockbusters of the future before they hit the big screen. Discover old favorites with lovingly curated retrospectives and restored classics. Explore immersive audio-visual worlds and try something new with experimental and short film strands,” the website adds.