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Prince of Darkness
Booze, Oscars and tax breaks.. On set as Johnny Depp delivers his most outrageous performance ever in The Libertine
Words Jonathan Crocker additional reporting Martyn Palmer.

“This guy had been kept in the darkness for far too long.” Says Johnny Depp, leaning towards Total Film. We’re in Depp’s trailer on the Isle of Man. It’s cold outside. He’s wearing cuffs frilly enough to shame a poodle and passionatley telling us about John Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester. “He’s an incredible character. I’m amazed that, like, Marquis de Sade has got more action, you know? But then I’m also amazed Marlowe hasn’t got as much action as Shakespeare…”

Depp in in his element. “It’s been great. It feels f**king great…” And he deserves to enjoy the moment. Because his journey to playing the titular 17th-century poet hellraiser in The Libertine has been much longer and more involved than simply nipping over the choppy water from his home in France.

It started in 1995. Depp watched John Malcovich playing Rochester in Stephen Jeffreys’ play. He was brilliant, Johnny told him so. Malkovich said he wanted him to star as Rochester on screen…

Depp has signed to headline, bringing freshly found box office clout in addition to his talent, having just starred in Pirates of The Caribbean. He also approves of edgy Accurist and BMW ad helmer Laurence Dunmore,

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Earlier this week, at a screening of The Brothers Grimm (he’s still beating away at that poor thing? Hasn’t he given up and moved on to Tideland yet?), Terry Gilliam hinted that he may yet return to The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, the accursed project documented in the documentary, Lost in La Mancha. “We’re getting closer to getting the script to Don Quixote back,” the director said. “Johnny [Depp]’s still there, we caught him in Toronto – he said publicly [he would do it] again so we’re good.” – by Karina Longworth for Cinematical.

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The Official Libertine Website is up and running. According to the Weinstein Co. site there will be a one week exclusive run of the controversial film in LA and New York on 11-25-05 and then the film will open nationwide for the rest of us (in the USA) on 1-13-06.

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AFI Fest salutes the prolific actor for his body of work and his newest challenging role – By Gina McIntyre, AFI Fest 2005.

Depp thoughts
AFI Fest salutes the prolific actor for his body of work and his newest challenging role.

Johnny on the screen
The four films in AFI’s Depp retrospective reflect some of the actor’s most memorable work.

In the monologue that opens Laurence Dunmore’s feature-film debut “The Libertine,” Johnny Depp, playing the libidinous John Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester in the court of King Charles II, leans forward from his seat in a dimly lit room to tell his audience that they will utterly detest the man they are about to meet. He boasts of his unparalleled vices, touting his depravity proudly before reclining backward into shadow and disappearing from view.

It is an unconventional start for a period costume drama, but the film itself (which the Weinstein Co. is set to release on Nov. 23 in New York and Los Angeles) is, like its leading man, unconventional. Adapted from Stephen Jeffreys’ play of the same name — which was originally staged with John Malkovich in the lead at Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre — “Libertine” depicts the latter years of the life of Rochester, post-Elizabethan England’s most notorious bad boy, whose obsessions with sex and rebellion led him down a fatal path of alcoholism and disease.

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The Daily Star

Despite Johnny Depps dodgy dress sense he still looked lovely when he stepped out for a spot of retail therapy in New York. Armed with a stylist, Johnny, 42, headed for Bloomingdales and Macy’s. But we can’t be too tough on the super sexy fella as he admits he has no idea how to dress well. He said: “Some people have that ability to wear whatever they want and wear it well, but not me.” Copyright (c) 1998-2005 The Daily Star. All rights reserved.

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Academy Award Nominee Johnny Depp stars in the The Libertine – IFILM Exclusive: Teaser Trailer (2006)

John Wilmot, the second Earl of Rochester has a passionate romance with a young actress, Elizabeth Barry, and he writes a scurrilous play which lampoons the monarch who commissioned it, Charles II.
(1 min 16 sec)copyright 2005 IFILM, Corp.

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Johnny Depp is set to star in ‘Shantaram’, a film based on a true story of a robber on the run.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the film will be adapted from Gregory David Roberts’ autobiographical book of the same name by Oscar-winning writer Eric Roth (‘Forrest Gump’).

Australian Roberts was a heroin addict who was convicted of armed robbery but escaped from prison and fled to Bombay, where he set up a medical clinic for people living in the slums.

He was recruited by the Bombay underworld, where he became a passport forger, counterfeiter and gun-runner.

Roberts travels also took him to Afghanistan, where he fought with the mujaheddin. Copyright RTE.ie

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Oscar-Winning ‘Forrest Gump’ Writer to Pen ‘Shantaram’ Script
October 26, 2005
By Borys Kit

SOURCE:The Hollywood Reporter

Oscar-winning writer Eric Roth has been tapped to adapt the Gregory David Roberts novel Shantaram for Warner Bros. Pictures and Initial Entertainment Group.

Set in the 1980s and based loosely on Roberts’s life, the story centers on an Australian heroin addict convicted of robbery who escapes to India, where he reinvents himself as a doctor. When he gets involved in smuggling and gun-running, his adventurous life leads him to Afghanistan and battles with Russians. Roberts wrote the initial draft.

The book was acquired in October 2004 in a $2 million purchase by Warner and Initial. Brad Pitt’s Plan B and Graham King, through Initial, are producing, as is Johnny Depp, via his Infinitum Nihil banner. Depp also is attached to star.

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BBC News – The Libertine and Mrs Henderson Presents have received the greatest number of nominations at this year’s British Independent Film Awards. They have eight nominations each, with Johnny Depp competing for the best actor prize for his Libertine role. Winners will be announced on 30 November.

The Libertine stars Depp as 17th Century poet John Wilmot, who received posthumous acclaim after living a debauched life.

It earned Laurence Dunmore a best director nomination and best supporting cast nominations for Tom Hollander and Rosamund Pike.

The awards, which recognise independent film-making in Britain, were established eight years ago.

Winners be chosen by a jury including actress Amanda Donohoe and Bullet Boy star Ashley Walters.

Founder Elliott Grove said; “It is, by anyone’s standards, a very powerful year for British cinema.”

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