Filmonic » Johnny Depp

Rob Marshall confirms he’s directing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Liam — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:03:33 +0000

Back in July it was reported that Rob Marshall, director of Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha and upcoming musical Nine, was in negotiations with Disney to direct Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Since then the film got a name change (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) and Johnny Depp wasn’t sure if he still wanted to do it. Well at a recent screening of Nine Marshall spoke briefly about the film, and it seems things have worked out nicely:

From AICN:

When asked about his next project (by Nora Ephron, who hosted the Q&A), he replied ‘y’know, it’s something that I was offered and never in the world thought I would do but then I was like ‘why not?’… I’m doing ‘Pirates of the Caribbean….”’ The only additional thing he mentioned about it was that he had a wonderful meeting with Johnny a little while ago and that they’re both excited to work together.

It will be interesting to see where Marshall takes the franchise. Because of the scale and cost of the last two films Disney want to tone things down slightly, so we should hopefully get a movie similar to the first film.

Third Alice in Wonderland poster features the Mad Hatter

Liam — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:08:44 +0000

Two weeks ago we saw a poster with the Red Queen, the White Queen, and the Cheshire Cat. The following week Disney released a poster of Alice and the White Rabbit, and now The Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter Facebook page has debuted the third poster featuring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.

Disney now need to put out a second trailer that will blow everyone away. The teaser was great, but it only glossed over Tim Burton’s world, and I want to see more of the supporting characters such as Alan Rickman’s Caterpillar and Christoper Lee’s Jabberwock.

Has The Tourist finally sorted itself out?

Liam — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:46:14 +0000

Okay, so here’s the rundown. The Tourist was originally set up for Bharat Nalluri to direct and Tom Cruise to lead. Charlize Theron also joined as the female lead, however Tom Cruise then left to star in some action/comedy with Cameron Diaz. Sam Worthington was then brought on-board to replace him, however Charlize Theron then left and was replaced by Angelina Jolie. Director Bharat Nalluri also left the project, which prompted Spyglass Entertainment to hire Florian von Donnersmarck as director. Since leaving was the ‘in thing’ Sam Worthington bailed, and now according to THR Johnny Depp will be joining the project. Oh yeah, Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men) is now directing.

So that’s Cruise + Nalluri + Theron – Cruise + Worthington – Theron + Jolie – Nalluri + Donnersmarck – Worthington + Depp + Cuaron = The Tourist

And what’s this casting merry-go-round movie about? An female Interpol agent uses an American tourist in an attempt to flush out an elusive criminal with whom she once had an affair.

In conclusion, it doesn’t matter who directs The Tourist, as long as they’ve got 2 A-listers in the lead roles. Although, i’m a fan of Alfonso Cuaron and Jolie and Depp together on-screen could work out quite well.

New Alice in Wonderland trailer shows us some new stuff

Liam — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:19 +0000

Spike have posted a new trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, however after watching it I couldn’t tell the different between this new one and the teaser trailer we got a few months back. Apparently there’s a new shot of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and a couple of other new ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ shots.

There’s only 5 months left to wait before it’s March release date. We’ll probably get a new trailer with lots of new footage soon.

Johnny Depp says his passion for Pirates 4 has been severely dampened

Liam — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:33:04 +0000

Just over a week ago Johnny Depp appeared in full Jack Sparrow costume to announce the new title, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and a release date of summer 2011 for the next Pirates movie. However since then Dick Cook, the longtime chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, decided to step down and Depp has been quoted as saying he is “shocked and very sad” about this news.

From the L.A Times:

The actor said it was because of Cook that he ended up working with Disney in the first place. Cook had been trying woo Depp for years with various projects including doing voice-overs for animated films and one day, in Cook’s office, the studio chief threw out an idea that Depp pounced on.
“He said, ‘We’re thinking about doing this ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie,’” Depp recalled. “I said I was in. This was before there was a script or anything.”
As for the fourth planned “Pirates” movie, Depp said while he has a potential deal in place that will depend on how good the script is, his passion for the project at the moment has been severely dampened by the news that Cook will no longer be around.
“There’s a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment,” Depp said. “It was all born in that office.”

Writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio must feel a lot of pressure on them after reading this. The future of the billion dollar Pirates of the Caribbean franchise rests on their writing abilities, as no Depp means no movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Liam — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:03:54 +0000

That’s the official title of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. According to ComingSoon.net Johnny Depp appeared in full Jack Sparrow costume at the D23 Expo and announced the new title and the summer 2011 release date.

The title isn’t as epic as At Worlds End, however it will probably be related to the story like the titles have been with the previous movies. The last time we saw Jack Sparrow it was hinted that he would be going after the Fountain of Youth, so that could feature in the next film. I get a hint from the new title that they will be going to a location we haven’t been before, and there was talk recently that they could be going down the steampunk route (steam powered boats and technology).

What do you think of the title?

Update: A quick ‘On Stranger Tides’ Google search shows that the title is also a book written in 1988 by Tim Powers. It just so happens to involve pirates and has the following synopsis:

Puppeteer John Chandagnac, bound for Jamaica to recover stolen money from his uncle, becomes Jack Shandy after pirates attack his ship and force him to join their crew. Shandy’s struggle to accept his new life grounds the story for readers, even as Blackbeard and vodun magicians whisk everyone away to dreamlike lands where the Fountain of Youth itself awaits. The chaotic sea battles sing, though at times key events happen so quickly that they get lost in the shuffle as Jack tries to comprehend where he’s going and what’s at stake.

Have Disney bought the rights to use elements from the novel?

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus gets US release date

Liam — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:43:41 +0000

Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has had an October release date in countries such as the UK and Australia for a while. Now Sony Classics have set a December 25th release date so that US audiences can see Heath Ledger’s final outing.

The film tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law stepped in to pay tribute to Ledger, and to help finish the film.

Here’s the trailer:

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus trailer

Liam — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:22:21 +0000

We have a new trailer for Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which I am sure most of you know is Heath Ledger’s last film. Filming had not finished when he died and Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law stepped in to pay tribute to him, and help finish the film. We get glimpses of them in this trailer. The film tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus will be released on October 16th in the UK, but it still needs to find a distributor in the US.

Alice in Wonderland trailer!

Liam — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:31:19 +0000

The trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland has finally arrived for our viewing pleasure. It actually appeared online yesterday in low quality and Disney spent a good few hours trying to remove it. But the high quality version is here and can be seen below!

It looks as weird and wonderful as I expected. You can definitely see where the 3D elements will kick in. I’m looking forward to the next trailer so we can see a bit more of Tim Burton’s world.

Prepare your rabbit holes! Alice in Wonderland teaser coming soon!

Liam — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:17:16 +0000

Disney have decided they’ve had enough providing us with weird and wonderful images of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and will be releasing the teaser trailer for Alice in Wonderland this week! However, there is a catch. If you want to see it before anyone else you have to join one of three Facebook groups by Thursday, July 23, at 7pm EST.

The Loyal Subjects of the Red Queen

The Loyal Subjects of the White Queen

The Disloyal Subjects of the Mad Hatter

The fan page with the most followers at 4pm on July 24th gets first look at the teaser trailer. The Mad Hatter is currently in the lead by a wide margin (I hope Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter don’t take it personally) so if you want to see the teaser early I suggest you join that one.

However, if you aren’t a fan of falling prey to studio marketing gimmicks then just wait a little while longer and it will pop up on Youtube eventually. You will also find it embedded here, so check back Friday!