Ewan McGregor and Gwyneth Paltrow in talks to co-star with Johnny Depp in Mortdecai

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

After langhuishing in development hell for a few years, things are moving very quickly for MORTDECAI. Two weeks ago Johnny Depp signed onto the adapaptation of the Kyril Bonfiglioli book series, and now Variety has learned that Ewan McGregor and Gwyneth Paltrow are both being eyed to join him in the film. No word on who McGregor and Paltrow will be playing in the film but Depp will star as the lead, Charles Mortdecai.

Here's a description of the first book "Don't Point that Thing at Me" from Amazon:

The deliciously nasty, highly entertaining, comic masterpiece of a thriller-a cult favorite of Stephen Fry and Julian Barnes. A cult classic in the UK since its first publication there in the 1970s, Don't Point that Thing at Me is the hilarious and dark humored crime thriller featuring the Honorable Charlie Mortdecai: degenerate aristocrat, amoral art dealer, seasoned epicurean, unwilling assassin, and general knave-about-Piccadilly. With his thuggish manservant Jock, Mortdecai endures all manner of nastiness involving secret police, angry foreign governments, stolen paintings, and dead clients, all just to make a dishonest living—while decked out in the most stylish garb and drinking the most bizarre alcoholic cocktails. Don't miss the brilliant mixture of comedy, crime, and suspense.

I haven't read the books and I'm not sure if the film will be an adaptation of the first novel or if certain bits from all three books will be used for the movie, but apparently it will have angry Russians, Nazi gold, and the Mi5. Director David Koepp's films are a mix bag, but STIR OF ECHOES is one of my favorite supernatural movies of all time and the novels sounds like it could be a lot of fun to see on the big screen.

Filming for MORTDECAI should start filming sometime at the end of this year after Johnny Depp finishes work on Disney's INTO THE WOODS.