Johnny Depp Confirmed For ‘Black Mass’, Tom Hardy In Talks
TheWhitey BulgerbiopicBlack Massgot a fresh jolt of life last month whenScott Cooperentered talks to direct, and now it’s taking another big step forward as casting gets underway. In the lead role will beJohnny Depp, who previously signed on and then quit the project last year, whileTom Hardyis in early talks to play his FBI handler John Connolly. Get more details on the project after the jump.
Depp boarded the project last February whenBarry Levinsonwas attached to helm, but dropped out in May when budget-conscious producers wouldn’t meet his $20 million salary demand. He got interested again last month when Cooper took over for Levinson in the director’s chair, but it’s unclear how much he’s getting paid.
The script, byMark Mallouk, is based onDick LehrandGerard O’Neill’s 2001 tomeBlack Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI, and a Devil’s Deal. Cooper was said to be working on a rewrite. Hardy is negotiating for the role of John Connolly, a childhood friend of Bulger’s who has become an FBI agent.
The story is that, starting in the ’70s, Bulger consolidated his power in the Boston crime scene by joining forces with Connolly and turning in his rivals. Connolly, meanwhile, got to reap the professional benefits of being the agent who brought down the mob. But the deal eventually caught up with both of them. Connolly was convicted of racketeering, obstruction of justice, and second-degree murder, and Bulger went into hiding before he was finally captured in 2011.
Depp has wrappedTranscendenceandInto the Woods, both due out later this year, and is shootingLondon Fields. Hardy hasChild 44andMad Max: Fury Roadcoming out in the nearish future, and is set to play Elton John in the biopicRocketman. Production onBlack Massis scheduled to begin in May.
