Louis CK will not go away. He’s releasing a new indie film called “Fourth of July” on July 1st. The information is on his website. He directed it and co-wrote it. He’s not in it.

Louis was “cancelled” after many accusations of sexual impropriety. At the time, he was releasing an indie film called “I Love You, Daddy.” It was just about the worst movie I’ve ever seen. It also wasn’t released. Some critics still have the DVD and you can probably watch it somewhere, but you can never un-see it. Warning.

That film co-starred Edie Falco, Chloe Grace Moretz and others who are thrilled you’ve never seen it. This one has a cast of unknowns: Joe List, Sarah Tollemache, who are married to each other. List co-wrote the screenplay. Other actors are Paula Plum, Robert Walsh and Robert Kelly.

Right now, “Fourth of July” will play New York’s Beacon Theater on June 30th, Boston’s Shubert Theater on July 1st and Chicago’s The Vic on July 2nd. Louis will be in attendance at those screenings. Other theaters will be added.

Here’s the description: “A recovering alcoholic and jazz pianist in NYC confronts his acerbic family during their annual Fourth of July vacation.” Sounds like fun!

Now that the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial is over, it’s time to get a grip on reality.

Depp’s career was already in the tank long before he and Heard put on their cavalcade of horrors for all the world to see.

The misery of Depp’s resume has nothing to do with Heard. Aside from “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, his list of roles in box office flops was well chronicled here and in other places.

Maybe you’ve forgotten “The Lone Ranger,” a spectacular failure in which he played Tonto. How about “Mortdecai”? Or “Black Mass”? Surely you remember “Transcendence”? ($23 million total). Or “Richard Says Goodbye”? ($325K– not sure it was ever released.)

Even “Alice Through the Looking Glass” was a bust in this country– $77 million, although it did well abroad where English comprehension wasn’t an issue. Then there’s “London Fields,” the movie that brought him together with Heard. When it was finally released after many swipes at re-cutting, the film was seen by no one.

Depp has had four flops just since 2019 including the most recent, “Minimata,” which made $610K abroad, has no domestic box office. The others were worse.

As for the “Pirates” movies, they declined in box office successively over the years. The last one, in 2017, was a big hit internationally but made $172 million here. The foreign crowd is nothing to sneeze at. Depp is a name in the worldwide market in the right project. But here, at least five or more years ago, his star was on the wane.

So let’s not heap all the blame on Amber Heard. Johnny Depp was the architect of his own self-destruction. Even another “Pirates” movie might not resurrect him.

Big news: tonight “Top Gun: Maverick” will cross the $200 million mark. It opened one week ago tonight. That’s just 7 days. Last night, the sequel to the mid 80s film made $14 million, mid week. There’s no sign of a slowdown. Still waiting for updates on international numbers…

“Downton Abbey: A New Era” is hitting $32 million tonight and could be at $40 million by Sunday. The audience is building slowly. I went back to see it on Sunday afternoon and the place was filled. It wasn’t just senior citizens, either. There were young people, not white, and they told me they’d become fans of the TV series. So “DA” cuts across everything.

Disney announced today that “Doctor Strange 2” will go to DisneyPlus on June 22nd. It will be 45 days and $900 million worldwide when that happens. So everyone’s happy, especially Benedict Cumberbatch, who didn’t have to wait for a great drama and an Oscar to make his career. He’s set for life. But it would be nice if he had those other things one day, too.