Johnny Depp's 'The Rum Diary' Moving Forward

by Monika Bartyzel Jul 30th 2007 // 3:31PM

Filed under: Drama, Independent, Casting, Deals, Warner Independent Pictures, Scripts, Cinematical Indie

Goodbye, Captain Jack! It's time for some more drug-addled Thompson. After being in the works for a while now, The Rum Diary is finally gearing up with all of the main players in place. It's music to my ears, as I've been itching for the actor to return to something a bit meatier and more adult-fun. Johnny Depp will once again take on the life of Hunter S. Thompson, who he first wonderfully tackled in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. While Terry Gilliam isn't helming this one, I'm pretty psyched about who is -- Withnail & I writer/director Bruce Robinson, who will also adapt the novel. That sounds like perfect directorial pickin's to me. The director has a quirky style, and he's no stranger to autobiographical fiction. Between the Withnail anniversary and Rum, it's looking like a banner year for Robinson. Depp will produce alongside Graham King.

Depp will, of course, star as the fictionalized Thompson -- Paul Kemp. It's the 1950's, and he moves from New York to a small and rundown paper in Puerto Rico, where he is "surrounded by a bunch of lost souls bent on self-destruction." The book was written when Thompson was 22, but was not published until years later, in 1998. The famous gonzo journalist had gone to the island with the hope of working for a daily called the San Juan Star. He didn't get the gig, but befriended many of the staff, which gave him the context for the story.

With Sweeney Todd wrapped, Depp just has to film Mira Nair's Shantaram (which is being produced by Depp's under-the-radar prodco, Infinitum Nihil) and then the feature will head into production. While it sounds like a killer project, it is a bit bittersweet -- there's still no word about Don Quixote. If Gilliam has gotten the script back, the project is now another film away.

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Tags: Bruce Robinson, BruceRobinson, cinematical, film, Hunter S. Thompson, HunterS.Thompson, Johnny Depp, JohnnyDepp, movies, The Rum Diary, TheRumDiary

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