FEAR ANDING IN RIYADH

What could a movie star and Saudi Arabia's all-powerful ruler possibly have in common? Plenty, as it turns out. Behold, the stranger-thanfiction story of how Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed Johnny Depp into his kingdom and his circle of trust

- BRADLEY HOPE

AN ORNATELY CLAD ROYAL, DRAPED IN VELVET AND FRILLS, SITS AT HIS DRESSING TABLE WITHIN THE HALLOWED HALLS OF VERSAILLES AWAITING A FINAL DUSTING OF POWDER.

Just then, a courtier bursts in with an urgent message concerning the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

But this is not the 1700s, and the man in the chair is not King Louis XV. It's July 2022, and Johnny Depp, of Owensboro, Kentucky, is having his hair and makeup done for his role in a French period piece titled Jeanne du Barry. The messenger is a senior producer with a surprising request: Prince Badr bin Farhan AI Saud wants to meet with Depp.

The prince, an amiable fellow with a toothy grin, is Saudi Arabia's culture minister and a cousin of the omnipotent Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS. In 2017, Prince Badr made headlines when he served as the front man for MBS's purchase of the world's most expensive painting, Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi. Price tag: $450 million.

Not that Depp cares. "No way," he tells the producer. "I didn't sign up for this." The catch, however, is that Prince Badr has suddenly become very important to the production of Jeanne du Barry. By investing millions in the project via Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Fund, he has earned the right to an audience with the star.

After a few days of back-and-forth, Depp reluctantly agrees to the meeting. It goes so well that, within months, the 60-year-old actor, known for palling around with the likes of Keith Richards and the late Hunter S. Thompson, will stand face-to-face with MBS, the 38-year-old de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia. Theirs will be a bromance like no other.

WITH HIS WILLINGNESS to spend billions of dollars in a relentless drive to transform his country into a cultural and economic superpower, MBS is shaking up the world order. To decipher his increasingly consequential moods, methods, and moves, global leaders rely on thousands of diplomats, linguists, and spies.