Johnny Depp Stars as Man With Cancer Given 6 Months to Live in 'The Professor'

Johnny Depp plays a man diagnosed with cancer in his new movie “The Professor,” and from the looks of the trailer released Tuesday, the film takes a comedic approach to the man’s life after being told he only has six months left.

“It doesn’t look good Richard. In fact, to be quite frank, it looks pretty bad,” a doctor tells Depp’s character in the trailer.

After receiving his diagnosis, Richard introduces himself to his class, explaining, “From here on out we’re going to do things very differently.”

“Oh, and if any of you sell marijuana, please visit me during office hours,” he adds.

Richard responds to his diagnosis by drinking, taking pills, giving his students automatic B’s, and confronting the chancellor of his university, who is having an affair with Richard’s wife.

He also dispenses some wisdom to his students.

“I hope your parents all told you that you die at the end,” he says. “You sort of float without living. You’ve got one shot. Grab it, snatch it up, make it yours. Don’t let a moment of it slip by.”

Watch the full trailer below:

“The Professor” will be released on DIRECTV on April 18 and in theaters and on demand May 17.

The movie comes after years of personal drama for Depp, including his ex-wife Amber Heard’s accusations that he abused her throughout their marriage. Depp denies the allegations and claims that it was Heard who abused him. The two are currently hashing out their allegations as part of Depp’s lawsuit against U.K. tabloid The Sun for defamation (the newspaper published a story in 2018 implying Depp was a “wife beater”). Depp is also suing Heard herself for defamation after she wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post about her experience with domestic abuse.

Last summer, Depp and his former business managers settled their lawsuits against each other — he had accused them of theft, fraud and financial mismanagement, while they alleged Depp had poor spending habits.

A Rolling Stone profile published last summer described Depp as a heavy drinker and marijuana smoker and said Depp entered an “acute depression” at the height of his personal issues.