Johnny Depp toasts Hunter S. Thompson with “Rum Diary”
By Gregg Goldstein
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – Johnny Depp is moving closer to
bringing Hunter S. Thompson’s autobiographical novel “The Rum Diary” to
the big screen, seven years after the project was first announced.
Oscar-winning producer Graham King, the Oscar-winning producer of
“The Departed,” has acquired all rights to the property, which King
would produce with Depp for Warner Independent Pictures.
A spokesperson for King’s GK Films banner said it was hoped that
production would begin shortly after principal photography is completed
on Depp’s next film, Mira Nair’s crime drama “Shantaram.” No shooting
dates have been set for either film.
Loosely based on the late author’s experience working as a freelance
journalist in Puerto Rico in the late ’50s, the book was written in
1959 but not published until 1998. Depp would play a reporter who works
alongside a motley crew of self-destructive staffers at a struggling
San Juan newspaper, where an erotic love triangle emerges.
Bruce Robinson, whose 1987 comedy “Withnail & I” gained a cult following, is writing the screenplay and directing.
Depp previously played Thompson’s alter ego in Terry Gilliam’s 1996
adaptation of the author’s book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” for
Universal Pictures.
Many plans to make “Rum Diary” have been announced over the years.
The now-defunct indie production outfit Shooting Gallery and SPi Films
optioned the book and announced plans to make the film in 2000, with
Depp set to star and executive produce and Nick Nolte co-starring. A
new producer came on board in 2002, and Benicio Del Toro and Josh
Hartnett were soon attached as cast members.
Del Toro reportedly was set to make his directorial debut with “Rum
Diary” in late 2003, but the project remained dormant through
Thompson’s February 2005 suicide. According to their reps, Del Toro,
Nolte and Hartnett are no longer attached to the project.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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