With Johnny Depp on a downward trend with his career choices as of late, the highly bankable movie star needs a project that doesn’t require him to don goofy make-up or play a caricature. He also needs to work with a director who will play to his strengths both dramatically and comically for a project that could be the next big thing. So, who better for Depp to collaborate with than Edgar Wright.
Deadline is reporting that while Edgar Wright‘s role as director on ANT-MAN may have come to an unceremonious ending, Wright’s in development movie THE NIGHT STALKER is still alive at Disney. Being developed with Depp in mind, the film has a completed screenplay by D.V. DeVincentis. For those of you unfamiliar with THE NIGHT STALKER, you are missing out.
Originally a TV movie from 1972, THE NIGHT STALKER followed a reporter named Carl Kolchak who investigates supernatural crimes in Las Vegas. It spawned a series titled KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER set in Chicago that aired for a single season on ABC. The show was the primary inspiration for THE X-FILES and spawned an unsuccessful reboot in 2005.
THE NIGHT STALKER could be a great chance for Wright to stretch himself without being constrained by the rules and regulations that Marvel has in place for their feature films. It would also afford Depp a chance to make something with a creative director that could play to all of his strengths as an actor. Of course, this all depends on Depp who is currently filming BLACK MASS and has the still not officially greenlit fifth PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movie on his slate. If Disney were smart, they would jump on this project as soon as possible.