Johnny Depp and Donnie Brasco director Barry Levinson were supposed to be teaming up for another gangster movie. Unfortunately, fans wanting to see Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger will be disappointed to learn that Depp has bailed on the flick.
The movie is Black Mass and Levinson wanted Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger for the movie. Depp agreed to the role in the movie based on the book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob but when the movie suffered from disinterest at Cannes, the producers asked Depp to reduce the $20 million he was asking.
With the struggles at getting financing, the producers wanted to drop the budget and asked Depp to cut his fee in half. Depp’s people let the producers know he wouldn’t lower his asking price and Depp left the project to concentrate on his next blockbuster Capt. Jack Sparrow role instead.
It sucks that Depp and Levinson won’t be re-teaming for this, but Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger seemed like strange casting anyway. The movie is still hoping to move forward, but they need to replace their star now and hope that co-star Joel Edgerton doesn’t bail on them as well.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
