Okay, so this isn't exactly news if you've been keeping up, but with Johnny Depp generally commiting to a thousand projects all at once, it can difficult to shake out his schedule. But the actor's reps have cleared his calendar and revealed the two movies that will be taking up the bulk of his time in 2013. And neither of them involve the name Jack Sparrow.
Wally Pfister's "Transcendence" and the gangster tale "Black Mass" will be Depp's back-to-back movie projects this year. The first is the Christopher Nolan collaborator's directorial debut that will follow a scientist who uploads his brain into a supercomputer after he's assassinated by terrorists. In December, a number of young actresses — Rooney Mara, Emily Blunt and Rebecca Hall — were circling the female lead, but no word yet on who will take it. But with shooting set to begin April, word should begin bubbling any moment now.
Once that has wrapped, Depp will spend the summer on "Black Mass" which he signed up for earlier this month. Reuniting with with "Donnie Brasco" producer Barry Levinson, who will take the director's chair this time around, the Russell Gerwitz ("Inside Man") penned tale will find Depp playing notorious gangster Whitey Bulger. On the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list for the past few decades, he was dramatically arrested in 2011 after years of hiding in California. As the head of the notorious Boston outfit called The Winter Hill Gang, Bulger was a feared ruler, with both murder and racketeering among his misdeeds. However, he was also an informant for the FBI, adding a pretty fascinating twist to his story.
All told, it's nice to see Depp in roles that require flamboyant hats. But as for the long mooted "Pirates Of The Caribbean 5"? Well, it'll come eventually as it's still slated for a July 10, 2015 release. [Deadline]