MGM responds to director who accused them of burying his movie due to Johnny Depp's 'personal issues'

• "Minamata" director Andrew Levitas has accused MGM of "burying" the Johnny Depp movie.
• Levitas claims it is doing this because of Depp's "personal issues" outside of the film.
• MGM responded, stating that the movie's American release date is still being decided.

Andrew Levitas, the director of the new Johnny Depp movie "Minamata," has accused the studio behind the film, MGM, of burying the picture due to Depp's "personal issues."

In a letter to MGM obtained by Deadline, Levitas wrote that "Minamata" was picked up by the studio last year. The film follows Depp as famous photographer Eugene Smith, who documented the effects of mercury poisoning on the residents of the Japanese city Minamata.

Levitas said that MGM was initially "intent on bringing to light the suffering of the thousands of victims of one of the most heinous industrial pollution incidents the world has ever seen."

However, Levitas now believes MGM are backtracking on their support of the movie because of Depp's legal issues in the past year.

"Imagine the devastation when they learned this past week, that despite an already successful global roll out, MGM had decided to 'bury the film' (acquisitions head Mr. Sam Wollman's words) because MGM was concerned about the possibility that the personal issues of an actor in the film could reflect negatively upon them and that from MGM's perspective the victims and their families were secondary to this," Levitas wrote.

However, MGM has responded to Levitas' letter, stating: "The film was acquired for release via American International Pictures (AIP), a division of MGM which handles day-and-date releases. Minamata continues to be among future AIP releases and at this time, the film's US release date is TBA."

The film previously premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 21, 2020.

Last year, Depp lost his libel case against British tabloid newspaper The Sun and its executive editor Dan Wootton. Depp had taken the paper to court after it referred to him as a "wife beater" in an article about his turbulent marriage with now-ex-wife Amber Heard.

Following this loss, Depp revealed he was "asked to resign" from his role as Gellert Grindelwald in Warner Bros' "Fantastic Beasts" franchise, with Mads Mikkelsen taking over the role.

According to experts, this forced exit from one of the industry's biggest franchises is just the start for Depp. The actor, who has previously been nominated for three Oscars, could be facing the end of his career.

"Minamata" is the only upcoming movie listed on his IMDB page. He costars with his fellow "Pirates of the Caribbean" alum Bill Nighy, as well as Tadanobu Asano, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Katherine Jenkins.