Johnny Depp Movie News: Rum Diary Gets Release Date, Dark Shadows Gets Another Cast Member, The Thin Man Gets Screenwriter
Posted 03.30.11 by Ryan
Johnny Depp will again appear as Captain Jack Sparrow this summer in the fourth installment in the Pirates franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, but plenty of work is being done on the other Depp movies that will follow.
Depp is set to reunite with director Tim Burton next month for Dark Shadows, an adaptation of the gothic soap opera from the 1960s. The cast already includes Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green, Jackie Earle Hayley, and Bella Heathcoate. In addition, Deadline reports that actor Thomas McDonell (Prom) will play the younger version of Depp's character, Barnabas Collins. The report also says that Michael Sheen is in early discussions to play Roger, the conniving brother of Pfeiffer's character.
Depp shot The Rum Diary back in 2009 and the movie has sat, awaiting a release date. The movie again sees Depp acting in an adaptation of a Hunter S. Thompson novel, but this time he won't have to wear a bald cap. The movie stars Depp as an American journalist working in Puerto Rico in the 1950s and co-stars Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, and Richard Jenkins.
THR reports that Rum Diary will finally reach theaters this fall. FilmDistrict will distribute the movie, setting a release date of October 28. Bruce Robinson (Withnail and I) adapted the screenplay and directed.
Depp set up a remake of the 1934 mystery/comedy The Thin Man for himself and On Stranger Tides director Rob Marshall at Warner Bros. last October. The studio put together a shortlist of screenwriters for the project, with THR recently reporting that Jerry Stahl (Permanent Midnight) won the job.
The THR report claims that the studio took their time to find a writer that would add a contemporary attitude but keep the period setting for the movie, which will follow former detective and drunkard Nick Charles and his socialite wife Nora as they solve a mystery. No start date has been revealed for the project.
Next Showing: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens May 20