So, THE LONE RANGER didn’t do so well. Not only that, people were not digging it in the least. It didn’t even come off as a fun popcorn flick. In fact, I saw quite a few people saying they were “bored”. Bored during a big budget action flick? Yikes.
Regardless, Johnny Depp will get work because he’s Johnny f*cking Depp. He’s a good actor that hasn’t had any luck when it comes to choosing the right projects as of late. One project that he’s been attached to for awhile, MORTDECAI, adapted from Kyril Bonfiglioli’s comedic crime novel “The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery”. The flick originally had a home at Warner Bros. but Lionsgate recently acquired it after being put in turnaround.
“Depp is in negotiations to play Charlie Mortdecai, a wealthy art dealer and part-time rogue who frequently finds himself caught up in strange cases of crime and espionage. Story follows Mortdecai as he races to recover a stolen painting rumored to contain the code to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold. Of course, he’ll have to contend with angry Russians, the British Mi5, his impossibly leggy wife and an international terrorist first.”
Screenwriter and director David Koepp has been attached along with Depp who were paired back in 2004 on SECRET WINDOW. Koepp generally delivers though he has had his fair share of the not-so-goods. But the man was a writer on the screenplay for JURASSIC PARK so he gets an instant pass. Yes, it’s that easy to buy my love…but it’s JURASSIC PARK, COME ON!
Sadly, Bonfiglioli passed away before “The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery” was completed. Craig Brown finished the book in 1996 and it received many great reviews. Here’s hoping this is a win for Depp.