Johnny Depp is back in a major studio movie, and the first look is nothing like what anyone expected. Lionsgate has released the first trailer for Day Drinker, a sinister action thriller that reunites Depp with Penélope Cruz and puts Outer Banks star Madelyn Cline at the center of the story. The film hits theaters March 26, 2027.

Watch the official Day Drinker trailer here. One upload alone has cleared 3.5 million views in under two weeks and landed on YouTube's trending movies chart.

What Is Day Drinker About?

The official synopsis keeps it tight: a private-yacht bartender (Cline) meets a mysterious onboard guest (Depp), and the two get pulled into a criminal underworld run by Cruz's character, connected "in ways no one saw coming."

The trailer suggests a lot more is going on. Depp shows up silver-haired, speaking in a thick accent and delivering lines like "I don't belong anywhere" before the footage turns into a full-blown revenge movie on the open water.

The Twist Fans Can't Stop Talking About

Here is where it gets interesting. The title sounds like a movie about a guy with a cocktail in hand at noon. Viewers think it means something else entirely. The top comments on the trailer are full of fans convinced Depp is playing a vampire, with "day drinker" taking on a much darker meaning.

Lionsgate has not confirmed that. But TheWrap noted the trailer hints at supernatural elements around Cruz's character, and Dark Horizons wrote that the footage promises something far stranger than the synopsis lets on. Translation: the studio is hiding the real movie.

Cast, Director and the John Wick Connection

Day Drinker is directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man) from a script by Zach Dean (The Tomorrow War, The Gorge). Producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, the team behind the John Wick franchise, explain the trailer's hard-hitting action.

The supporting cast features Manu Rios, Arón Piper, Juan Diego Botto and Anika Boyle. The film was shot in Tenerife, Spain, in 2025. It also marks the fourth time Depp and Cruz have shared the screen, after Blow (2001), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and Murder on the Orient Express (2017).

Why This One Matters for Depp

This is a real comeback moment. Depp's last major studio release was Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018, and he has spent most of the years since in smaller independent and international films. Day Drinker and Paramount's Scrooge origin story Ebenezer put him back in wide-release territory.

The comment section reads like a welcome-home party, with thousands of fans celebrating the return. Whether that translates to the box office is the question Lionsgate will answer in March.

Day Drinker Release Date

Day Drinker opens in theaters on March 26, 2027, from Lionsgate.