We've seen a few photos from the set, but Empire has snagged the first official images from Michael Mann's Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in what has to be one of the most anticipated on-screen match-ups of 2009. In the flick, which is based on the book by Bryan Burrough, Bale will portray FBI agent Melvin Purvis, who, under the guidance of J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup), waged a full-on war against the country's most notorious (and successful) criminals -- namely John Dillinger (Depp), Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum) and Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham). It's a pretty wild true story, and one Mann and his cast should have a ball with. Check out an image of Bale after the jump, and the full images in this month's issue of Empire Magazine.
At the request of the studio, we have removed this photo.
An image of Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland has arrived online via something called Fangirl Magazine, and my initial feelings are that it's a fake -- something some fan doctored-up in an attempt to have a little fun with the online community. Also, since Depp's Mad Hatter will most likely be presented to us in motion capture, this image (if real) would have to either be concept art or, perhaps, a painting of the character that may or may not show up in the background of a scene. It is quite creepy, though, the way he clutches that rabbit -- and so if this is fan made, kudos to its creator. That said, I'd expect the final version to have a little more color ... but it probably won't be too far off from this. Here are two real images from the set. What do you think?
Check out a larger version of the above image in the gallery below alongside a few other versions of the classic character for comparison.
Back when I was in London, word had it Tim Burton was in pre-production on his Alice in Wonderland -- but it seems the director has begun shooting some of his live-action scenes for the film, and a bunch of spy photos featuring Mia Wasikowska (Alice) have arrived online via INF. The images also include shots of Burton's main squeeze Helena Bonham Carter whose baby is all dressed up in period garb ... preparing for a cameo, perhaps? Of course, Johnny Depp was just officially announced as the Mad Hatter, and the final product will be a mix of live action and motion-capture animation. One imagines the scenes featuring Alice before she arrives in Wonderland (ie: these two photos) will be shot in live action, with the majority of the Wonderland stuff all in motion-capture. Oooh, this flick is gonna be freaky ...
With the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, it was pretty much inevitable that more would come our way. But it wasn't all signed, dotted, and crossed until now. Variety reports that Johnny Depp has finally signed on for a fourth film. I can only hope that this time around, he gets the passion and the girl. Or at the very least, I hope she doesn't pick a bland dude who lacks charisma and chemistry instead. Ick.
But that's not all, folks! Depp, with a big ol' soft spot for iconic roles lately, has signed on for one more (two if you count Mad Hatter in Burton's Alice in Wonderland). As briefly reported yesterday, he's also going to play Tonto as part of Jerry Bruckheimer's adaptation of The Lone Ranger. The man must like his Bruck. I'm glad he's part Cherokee so there's more basis to this pick than just "Holy crap Depp is awesome and brings in big money!" But that leaves a pressing question:
We still don't have the Lone dude himself. Is there an actor out there who would make a good Lone Ranger, AND be able to fight his way out of Depp's talented shadow? Weigh in below!
Johnny Depp never forgets his director friends. According to Variety, he's teaming up again with his Pirates of the Caribbean main man, Gore Verbinski, for Paramount's animated feature Rango. The movie will realize the dreams of thousands (nay, millions) of women worldwide as it casts Depp in the role of household pet. He'll go on an adventure to discover his true self -- which, I think, involves discovering he is Johnny Depp, commander of women.
Verbinski cooked up the story himself, but gave the writing job to John Logan. He will direct the movie as a nice relaxing break from adapting Bioshock. Some of us do yoga, some of us direct Paramounts "most ambitious star-driven entry into animation." The effects will be handled by ILM, who did such brilliant work on Pirates' Davy Jones. According to Verbinski himself, Rango will be using top-notch CG techniques "that will allow us to capture and translate every aspect of Johnny's performance, using it to drive the computer-generated character in a way that has yet to be seen in an animated feature." This sounds kind of terrifying to me -- Depp's household pet is left unspecified in the article, and I now have a vision of a dog or a turtle with Depp's face. Or they are going the Angelina Jolie / Beowulf route.
All joking aside, I do think another Depp and Verbinski pair-up can only yield good results -- and it will be fun to see (hear?) Depp do more voice work. The movie starts production this January, and is slated for a March 2011 release.
What can we say -- it's MTV hour here on Cinematical. While grabbing any and every actor ever involved in a superhero film during the Toronto International Film Festival, MTV managed to get a kinda sorta confirmation from Michael Caine that both Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman were being considered for the roles of Riddler and Penguin in the next Batman movie. I know, we've gone over this already -- they're just rumors -- but according to Caine, a Warner Bros. executive backed it all up.
Here's what he told MTV: "I was with [a Warner Bros.] executive and I said, 'Are we going to make another one?' They said yeah. I said, 'How the hell are we going to top Heath? And he says 'I'll tell you how you top Heath - Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin.' I said, 'S–t, they've done it again!'"
Of course, said exec could be talking hypothetically, in a "We top Heath by bringing on two more A-listers to play two popular villains" sorta way. Seeing as there's no script and no deal for Christopher Nolan (yet), I'm pretty sure they're not at the stage where offers are going out. But it is reassuring to see the studio listening to the fans and actively pursuing a way to "top Heath" -- know what I mean? Then again, maybe both Depp and Hoffman know more than they're letting on ...
At last, the focus of at least one obsessive Batman 3 rumor has adressed. Johnny Depp was recently on a Florida radio show promoting the reunion show of his band, The Kids. (I know how the girls love Johnny, you can listen to the entire interview in two parts here.) A persistent fan called into the station to remind them to ask Depp about playing the Riddler for Christopher Nolan.
Depp's answer was essentially a denial and as enigmatic as well, the Riddler. "Oh yeah I heard about that. Not that I know of. It seems like it'd be a fun gig for a while, yeah."
A denial isn't surprising since we know Nolan isn't even signed, let alone writing or casting. But given that the rumor machine is going regardless of that fact, here's more fuel for the fire. There's no doubt Depp would do a fine job. He could probably play me to perfection. And he's open to taking just about any role that interests him. So, those of you keeping score can mark Depp as "interested" and various news agencies that don't read these things carefully can report it as "confirmed." For my part, I'm going to go ahead and tell my sister that Depp is "totally doing Batman 3" because that's one way to interest her in the franchise. Except then she'll start working on a Riddler costume for a certain lookalike. Never mind, then.
While Heath Ledger's role as Joker in The Dark Knight might go down as his last (and greatest) complete role, technically his final performance will come in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. In a weird way it's almost fitting that Gilliam -- who's been cursed for years now -- would wind up being the filmmaker to last work with Ledger. Not only has Ledger's next-to-last film broken almost every box office record to date, but folks are so afraid of a Gilliam flick that even with the marketing machine that is the death of Heath Ledger, Hollywood still doesn't want to go near Dr. Parnassus.
A story in The Hollywood Reporter last week claims Ledger could be in a "position of having one of the biggest- grossing movies in Hollywood history out at the same time he's in a movie hunting for an domestic distribution deal." And the scary part of this is that when Ledger passed away, Hollywood heavyweights like Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepped in to finish the film for their deceased friend. With ALL THAT, it's still a risky movie to get behind. One "distribution guru" added, "For all the elements in this film, it is a Terry Gilliam picture, and as much as you want a movie of his to be good, you have to be careful." Poor Gilliam ... the guy just can't catch a break.
Well, unless you want to see Dr. Parnassus. Wouldn't it be kinda spooky if one death helped revive another's career? If we, as an audience, had the ability to choose between the doom and gloom of mourning an actor's death or the light and joy that comes with helping a beloved filmmaker get back on track?
It's been a while since we heard anything about Johnny Depp's second foray into the world of comic book adaptation, otherwise known as Rex Mundi. Back in 2006, Depp purchased the rights to Arvid Nelson's Dark Horse series under his Infinitum Nihil banner, with the intention to star as Dr. Julien Sauniere.
To refresh your memory, Rex Mundi is set in an alternate history where Martin Luther was assassinated, the Reformation never took place, and the Catholic Church still reigns supreme. The comics take place in the 1930's, in a world where the Inquisition still runs rampant, Europe is ruled by monarchs, but magic manages to exist. Into this walks Dr. Sauniere, who finds himself investigating the disappearance of a medieval scroll, and a trail of horrific ritual murders. You can find out more on its official site, if you're interested. Depp was drawn to the project not because he's a comic reader, but because he's keenly interested in the Templar Knights, and "loves that kind of research" according to Barry Levine, who's co-producing.
According to MTV, Rex now has a script, penned by Jim Uhls, and is looking for a director. Depp has been right in the thick of all the decision making, says his co-producer Barry Levine. "The second draft is now coming in from Jim, and Warner Bros. is pretty excited about it. They came up with a couple of names for directors, so now we just need Johnny to look at the list. It all begins and ends with Johnny. He's got to be happy with the script, and he gave his notes, so we'll see what happens next."
It's been a ridiculously long and challenging road for Terry Gilliam once he set out to make The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. After the infamous struggles during the first round, he was potentially getting his second chance back in 2005. Then he was working to get the script back in late 2005, and still fighting for it in 2007, and even remained hopeful at the beginning of this year. It's been a big, long wait that has most certainly ousted the Little Train That Could for the icon with the most determination and perseverance.
If the Independent is right, Don Quixote is headed for production soon. In a discussion with Gilliam, he said: "As far as we're concerned, it's on. When Johnny's ready, we're ready. We're just talking about dates to film. Basically, it all depends on his schedule, but otherwise we're set. It will be next year some time, before next summer anyway." The production will be completely re-shot, using none of the plagued footage from 2000: "The intervening years have taught me that I can actually write a much better film. I'm so excited it's going to get done at last."
Last night Cinematical's James Rocchi was a guest on G4's Attack of the Show, where he and Chris Hardwick spoke about all those crazy Batman rumors spreading like wildfire across the internet. Ya know, how Angelina Jolie supposedly wants to play Catwoman, Philip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin and/or Johnny Depp as Riddler.
As James points out, these are all "just rumors" right now and there's no way of telling which characters Christopher Nolan and his screenwriter brother Jonathan Nolan have in mind without actually speaking to them. It should be noted that Cinematical has also confirmed that Chris Nolan currently does not have a deal to direct a third film, and if he does hop onboard, they'll have to negotiate something first. But enough of my babbling, check out James above, and much thanks to Attack of the Show for inviting us on.
The movie Be Kind Rewind is being released on DVD today. Even if you didn't see the movie, you probably remember the delightful trailer, in which Jack Black and Mos Def shoot their own low-budget, low-everything versions of blockbusters like Ghostbusters and Driving Miss Daisy. In addition, another movie about the joy of making movies is still playing in some theaters -- Son of Rambow, where two boys are inspired to shoot their own version of Rambo complete with flying dogs, nursing-home residents bribed as actors, and a fabulous French exchange student.
I can think of dozens of enjoyable movies about moviemaking (and a few clunkers, but we'll ignore them for today). But I decided to focus on seven of the most characteristic films. I didn't include films about screenwriters, because I think those would be fun to list another time, or films about moviegoing like Cinema Paradiso. Instead, I focused on the inspired and sometimes crazed filmmakers. Afterwards, you can tell me which of your favorites I left off the list.
He's portrayed a few iconic characters, including Shakespeare's Romeo and Howard Hughes, but could Leonardo DiCaprio be taken seriously as an iconic superhero? Specifically the Sentinel of Liberty -- Captain America? According to Latino Review (a site well-known and typically respected for its accuracy with rumors of this sort), Marvel Studios has placed Leo on the top of their list of candidates for the role. Of course, there's been no offer made yet, and this is simply the same sort of wish list we heard about for Thor(Brad Pittis the top of that list), so there's no need to get crazy over the possibility ... yet.
Speaking of Pitt, Marvel apparently has placed him as second on their list for Cap. They either want him for The First Avenger: Captain Americaor Thor. Maybe they'll even offer him the roles of Ant-Man and everyone else in The Avengers (it would be like this, but with Pitt playing all the roles instead of Johnny Depp). There's no mention of who is #3. It could be Matthew McConaughey, who was rumored to be considered before. Or, it could be George Washington. Yes, the real G.W., first President of the United States. Not only is he perfectly relevant for the part, but I think Marvel has as good a chance of casting him as they do of casting Leo.
I am now convinced that Johnny Depp doesn't age. The above is part of a collection of photos over at Just Jared that show Depp as John Dillinger in Michael Mann's upcoming gangster flick, Public Enemies. If I didn't know the context, I would've assumed that this was an old picture from some film of the past that I missed. But no, this is the actor filming on his 45th birthday.
Public Enemies is the sure-to-be-awesome Great Depression drama starring Christian Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis, who is trying to stop notorious bad boys John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum). But the stars are only the tip of the talent iceberg -- Leelee Sobieski, Billy Crudup, David Wenham, Giovanni Ribisi, Marion Cotillard, Rory Cochrane, Stephen Dorff, Lili Taylor ...
Tim Burton has reportedly been confirmed as the director of Dark Shadows, the rights of which are held by Johnny Depp's Infinitum-Nihil shingle. No official confirmation has been made, but Depp has held the rights since last year, and a big-screen remake has been cooking over at Warner Bros.
According to IESB, while they were conducting an interview for Get Smart with director Peter Segel, he mentioned writer John August and how he was jumping between Tim Burton's Dark Shadows and Segel's own Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam.
So, at this point in time, John August is confirmed as the writer and Tim Burton is rumored to be the director. And while no cast has been announced, if Burton is directing, there is probably a 95% chance that Depp will don the vampire fangs as Barnabas Collins. Given Depp's proclivity towards the Gothic, and his much-reported obsession with the character, make that a 97%. Frankly, I didn't think Depp and Burton could top themselves after Sweeney Todd, but this could probably do it.
I had to read this twice to confirm it wasn't a crazy rumor or wishful thinking -- because, honestly, I always thought that "Johnny Depp as a vampire" line was born out of a bunch of Depp fanatics reading too much into his "I wanted to be Barnabas Collins" interviews. If it all ends up coming together, I will be among the excited -- I was pretty obsessed with the 80's reboot of Dark Shadows in my youth. If I saw it now, I would probably hate myself, but it's pretty hard to ruin that bodice-ripper of a story. What do you think, readers? Tired of the Burton-Depp thing, or eager to see them venture into the dark and pale once more?
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Johnny Depp never forgets his director friends. According to 
At last, the focus of at least one obsessive Batman 3 rumor has adressed. Johnny Depp was recently on a Florida radio show promoting the reunion show of his band, The Kids. (I know how the girls love Johnny, you can listen to the entire interview in .jpg)
It's been a while since we heard anything about Johnny Depp's second foray into the world of comic book adaptation, otherwise known as 
It's been a ridiculously long and challenging road for 
He's portrayed a few iconic characters, including Shakespeare's Romeo and Howard Hughes, but could 
Tim Burton has reportedly been confirmed as the director of Dark Shadows, the rights of 
