It wasn’t long ago that Warner Bros was happily gearing up to fund a remake of 1934’s THE THIN MAN starring Johnny Depp and directed by Rob Marshall (ON STRANGER TIDES), but if the rumors are to be believed then that isn’t quite the case anymore.
While the movie may still be made, it’s going to be delayed for some time as the studio and star work together to bring down the budget from its current territory of above $100 million. Why a detective tale based on a book by Dashiell Hammett needs over $100 million to be made is beyond me, unless it’s for period recreation purposes. Or Johnny Depp’s character is investigating a supernatural coyote attack. One of the two. Whatever the reason, Warner Bros can’t have been much pleased by the performance of DARK SHADOWS, a movie which showed that Depp’s box-office draw might not be what it once was.
The studio claims that all is well and that the movie had never technically been greenlit in the first place, as 1) a female lead has not yet been found and 2) Depp wants to take more time off between movies anyway. But be there drama or no, the movie definitely won’t shoot in November as planned. Word is Rob Marshall will first direct an adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical INTO THE WOODS and then, provided the budget has been wrangled, move on over to THE THIN MAN.