Well it looks like we can chalk up another victim of the writers strike. Right after news broke that The Weinsteins had put their big-screen version of the musical Nine on hold, it now looks like Johnny Depp's Shantaram will be joining the list of casualties as well. Variety reports that Warner Bros. has halted production on the adaptation of Gregory David Robert's best-selling novel. Depp was set to co-produce and star in the drama about "an Australian heroin addict who escapes a maximum-security prison, reinvents himself as a doctor in the slums of India and eventually uses gun-running and counterfeiting skills to fight against the invading Russian troops in Afghanistan". Mira Nair had signed on to direct back in January after Australian director Peter Weir left the project due to those pesky "artistic differences".

As was the case with The Weinsteins Nine, Shantaram's delay was a direct result of the strike. Mainly because it meant there was zero chance of any re-writes taking place before the film was set to begin shooting. According to Variety, screenwriter Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) was working on the project until the very last minute before the strike. But when combined with the problems securing a location for the shoot due to monsoon season in India, it looks like the film is going to be put on hold for the foreseeable future. I wouldn't worry though, the film has been a passion project for Depp for some time now, so I doubt he will let if fall by the wayside. There is no word yet on whether Depp is looking for a replacement project in the meantime, but stay tuned for any updates that come our way.

So before you get all excited; no, the Weinsteins are not remaking the 1990 Charlie Sheen and Michael Biehn action 'classic'. Instead, Variety reports that the Weinsteins have announced their first joint-production with Exodus Films: the animated family film, Navy Seals. Justin Eick has reportedly signed to pen the script for the CG flick about an elite group of Navy "super dolphins" (and even though they're dolphins, I'm holding out for "frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin' heads") who are captured by some bad guys. Their only hope for escape is a rag-tag group of neighboring seals -- and we're talking actual seals, by the way, flippers and all. Exodus' chief executive was quoted as saying the story was "inspired by the very real heroics that marine mammals have played in the defense of our country." -- which might be a little heavy-handed for a family comedy, don't you think?

The Weinsteins and Exodus first crossed paths when TWC picked up Exodus' first animated feature, Igor. That film is set for release on October 24 and stars John Cusack (as Igor), John Cleese, and Steve Buscemi. Seals will be the first co-production to come out of the partnership that was announced during the Cannes festival earlier this year. Now, both companies will work together as a one-stop shop to develop, produce, and finance a slate of animated films. It's no secret that the Weinsteins have had a rough year when it comes to the bottom line, and so you can't blame TWC for wanting to cover their bets with two animated films. I just hope they're ready for the competition.

Miramax doesn't seem to be at a loss for projects lately, so it looks like they have decided to let one go. Variety reports that Gold Circle Films has picked up the rights to the film version of the Thomas Wheeler fantasy novel The Arcanum. Released by Bantam books in 2004, the novel is a fictionalized take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle leading a Super Friends style group of paranormal investigators called The Arcanum -- which includes Harry Houdini and the notorious voodoo priestess Marie Laveau as members. In the novel, The Arcanum is a secret society with a mandate to protect humanity from a variety of things that go "bump in the night" and the novel seems to be chock-full of fantasy and horror references (cameos include appearances by H.P Lovecraft and Aleistar Crowley). Throw in a plot about The Book of Enoch and a serial killer bumping off angels, and you end up with what sounds like a cross between The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and The Da Vinci Code, with maybe just a dash of Caleb Carr.

The project had been optioned by Miramax in 1999, but had been languishing in turn-around before Gold Circle showed up with designs on a fantasy franchise of their very own. Wheeler adapted the screenplay and a call has already been put out for a director. Gold Circle might not have the same high-profile reputation that Miramax does, but they have a respectable line-up set for the coming year, including Whisper with LOST's Josh Holloway, and the U.S. remake of the South Korean film My Sassy Girl with Elisha Cuthbert. So even if The Arcanum doesn't turn out to be the next great fantasy franchise, one studio's trash could still be another's treasure.