The 49-year-old global superstar Johnny Depp will star as one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Whitey Bulger in Cross Creek's crime thriller Black Mass, an upcoming film that Rain Man director Barry Levinson will helm.
Cross Creek Pictures and Exclusive Media announced on Saturday Black Mass will be released by Universal Pictures in the US through Cross Creek's distribution deal with the studio. The film is scheduled for a May 2013 start date.
Cross Creek recently purchased the New York Times bestselling 2001 non-fiction book ‘Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob,' written by former Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerald O'Neill.
Newcomer Mark Mallouk completely rewrote the script after Bulger was captured in Santa Monica, CA in June 2011.
Producer Brian Oliver commented:
I could not be more thrilled to have the biggest star in the world and Academy Award winning director Barry Levinson to finally bring this incredible story to the big screen. We have been working on this project since we originally optioned the book in 2005. Black Mass expertly details the twists and turns of this highly complex story, painting a vivid portrait of Boston's underbelly and its corrupt political machine, as well as exposing the worst scandal in FBI history. It's also an examination of loyalty to family, Irish heritage, and South Boston.
The only other project Depp is confirmed to play at this point is Pirates of the Caribbean 5, which Disney wants in theaters on July 10th, 2015. Depp will appear on screens this summer in The Lone Ranger, another Disney major tentpole opening nationwide on July 3rd, 2013.
Source: Exclusive Media
