Jan 13 2009Johnny Depp Delving Back Into Hunter S. Thompson's Mind
A casting announcement from TheBadandUgly has hinted that Johnny Depp's next role may take him to 1950s Puerto Rico for an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary. From ComingSoon:
First announced in May of 2005, could The Rum Diary finally be moving forward with Johnny Depp starring?TheBadandUgly.com has received a casting announcement that suggests the Hunter S. Thompson adaptation will be Depp's next, as it lists a March 2009 start date. Depp will play Paul Kemp, a freelance journalist writing for a rundown newspaper in 1950s Puerto Rico and surrounded by a bunch of lost souls bent on self-destruction. Bruce Robinson wrote the screenplay and will direct.
This will be Depp's first time starring in a Thompson adaptation since 1998's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the first time I'll be watching a Depp-starring Thompson adaptation somewhere other than a dorm room. I bet it will look and smell so different.
Reader Comments
1. Brian - January 13, 2009 4:51 PM
FIRSTETH!!!
2. Eddy - January 13, 2009 4:52 PM
Actually, he sort of plays Hunter in the documentary Gonzo. At the very least, he reads his work out loud while brandishing a gun and liquor, which basically makes him the famed journalist.
3. Fourth - January 13, 2009 4:54 PM
FIFTH!
4. Elmo - January 13, 2009 7:20 PM
*yay* awsome! too bad he didn't play Thompson again before he died
5. kaitlin - January 14, 2009 1:44 AM
fuck yeah, finally. i have been waiting for this movie forever. it's my favorite hunter book, hopefully it's ok.
6. sully - January 14, 2009 12:30 PM
I've been hearing "Johnny Depp to play Paul Kemp in his next role" for about four years now. Last I heard, production was supposed to start after filming the Pirates sequels... we all know how that turned out. Hopefully after the next Pirates movie, though, he'll be gung ho about this one. Because we all know that some shitty disney movie about fucking pirates based on a theme park ride is more important than this amazing novel by a man who spoke for a generation. Remember when this movie had an entire cast and script and director, and then everyone slowly dropped out one by one? Yeah, that was cool.
7. Amy - January 15, 2009 9:06 PM
Yeah, I was continuously getting my hopes up over this project a few years back - now I'm refusing to get excited until they actually start shooting (and maybe not even then...)
I've also stopped getting excited about Depp projects in general - he hasn't been in any great movies this century, and he's only given a really stellar performance in a couple of the mediocre movies he has been in (the first Pirates, Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I might allow myself to dare to hope that Pubic Enemies could be a return to form, though...
8. Tara e. - January 18, 2009 1:08 PM
... I tingle...