Eckhart, Jenkins Join Depp's 'Rum Diary'

Johnny Depp's new Hunter S. Thompson adaptation is really starting to take on the look of a project I'd like to see. Of course, Depp was very close to Thompson, so it's no wonder The Rum Diary seems to be moving in that direction; everybody has to know how important the film is to Depp, who will star in and produce the project. And since Johnny's one of those guys everybody wants to work with, seeing Aaron Eckhart and Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins come aboard The Rum Diary isn't terribly surprising. Eckhart will play "a wealthy landowner who believes everything has a price and introduces [Depp] to a different standard of living," according to The Hollywood Reporter. Depp portrays Paul Kemp in the film, a journalist not unlike Thompson himself. The Eckhart character will also be involed in a love triangle with Depp, and at the middle of that tug-of-war is Amber Heard. Jenkins, in a role that sounds perfect for his particular laconic demeanor, will serve as Kemp's editor at the ramshackle newspaper where he works. The Rum Diary is set in 1950s Puerto Rico, where the movie will actually be shot beginning next month. Not the 1950s part, though. Johnny Depp's pretty cool, but even he can't go back in time.

Comments

[Lengthy Johnson]

That Johnny Depp is able to do an uncanny imitation of Hunter S Thompson we already know.

I do wonder about the Writer/Director though. As far as I can see, he's done very little of note since the early eighties cult classic Whitnail & I - which I am not awfully fond of.

A writer/director has much more of an impact on a film than the lead actor (obviously) so the result remains to be seen.

I wonder what discussions (if any) Depp might have had with Terry Gilliam?