ROTTEN TOMATOES: Johnny Depp to Take Another Crack at Hunter S. Thompson

Johnny Depp to Take Another Crack at Hunter S. Thompson

Busy actor to star in author's "Diary"

by Scott Weinberg | July 30, 2007

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It's been a long time coming, but it looks like Johnny Depp will finally get his wish to turn Hunter S. Thompson's The Rum Diary into a movie. And of course he'll be playing the legendary author. (Again.)

Fans of Depp, Thompson and Terry Gilliam will no doubt remember that the actor "sorta" played the 'gonzo journalist' in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. And say what you will about the movie itself, but Depp was pretty darn amazing in it. Producer (and frequent Depp collaborator) Graham King recently acquired the screen rights to The Rum Diary, and it looks like it could be Depp's next project after Mira Nair's Shantaram. Bruce Robinson will adapt the book as well as direct. (He directed Jennifer 8, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, and Withnail and I.)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story "is loosely based on Thompson's experience working as a freelance journalist in Puerto Rico in the late '50s. Depp will play a reporter who works alongside a motley crew of self-destructive staffers at a struggling San Juan newspaper, where an erotic love triangle emerges." Cool.

In years past, actors such as Nick Nolte, Benicio Del Toro, and Josh Hartnett had been attached to the project in one way or another. Looks like King, Depp, and Robinson might be starting from scratch this time.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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(1-11 of 11 posts) | Reply

rustdog writes:
on Jul 30 2007 07:13 AM

It's a very different book than Fear and Loathing. More of a biopic of a young struggling journalist than the drugged out exploits we all know and love. There's still plenty of booze and turmoil, but with a much more serious tone.

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AlbertBrodsky writes:
on Jul 30 2007 07:49 AM

I've always wished it could be possible to do a movie based on his experiances with the Hell's Angels. I really love Fear and Loathing. One of my favorites. This new project sounds interesting.

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Now it's dark writes:
on Jul 30 2007 08:11 AM

I'm more excited that he's working with Mira Nair.

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LowBalls writes:
on Jul 30 2007 08:16 AM

Nice. When I read that book I kept picturing Depp as the main character anyway. I wonder who Nolte is going to play? Maybe the Boss of the Newspaper place he works for...I forget his name.

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paskunia writes:
on Jul 30 2007 08:57 AM

Just read a PR statement that the only one attached to the project for sure is Depp. Everyone else is either out or non-comittal at this point.

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unbreakable_samurai writes:
on Jul 30 2007 10:07 AM

Nice to hear that they are making a 3rd attempt at this, hopefully it actually gets made this time. I love Fear and Loathing, I wish that the other three actors were still attched this.

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deneco4 writes:
on Jul 30 2007 12:07 PM

YES!!!!!!!! I can't freaking wait. Depp plays Hunter S. flawlessly and I know he admired and had great respect for him so this movie will definatly be done right.
Cannot wait!!

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Monkeyfist writes:
on Jul 30 2007 03:32 PM

The Rum Diary is a great book and I'm sure it will be done well with Depp involved. If he can pull off Hell's Angels for the trifecta, all will be right in the world.

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EmmG389 writes:
on Jul 30 2007 05:15 PM

No. No. No. No.
Hunter S. Thompson as interesting and crazy as he was is unfilmable. Every movie, whether he was played by Bill Murray in Where the Buffalo Roam or Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing, has been failures. They have all been nice attempts but ultimately both films were just too weird and almost completely unbelievable to watch (even though these things might have happened, but Thompson might not have even known that these things happened or not). With all of Thompson's tics, he is a character that is so out of this world that most people cannot barely relate to him. To members, read his books.
To filmmakers, don't make another movie. I don't want to lose my lunch as I did when I attempted to watch Fear and Loathing the first time.

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kfarschman writes:
on Jul 30 2007 06:44 PM

EmmG was four "no"s really needed?

In Fear and Loathing the character was Raoul Duke, in Rum Diary it's Paul Kemp. They aren't complete autobiographical versions of Hunter. They may have some of his mannerisms and are written with Hunter's own experiences but they aren't Hunter S. Thompson.

Fear and Loathing I thought captured the whole feeling that the character didn't know if things were really happening or some hallucinatory dream or twisted version of reality. I thought Depp played the character in perfect pitch to how the film was made. The whole movie felt like some weird hallucinatory twist on reality which pretty much sums up all of Terry Gilliam's movies. In the Hunter S. Thompson commentary on the criterion edition the only complaint he had was when Depp throws the money on the ground for the dwarf waiter saying that that kind of act is horrible and he would never do that.

In Rum Diary I think Depp will play the character different than he did in Fear and Loathing. Less cartoony. In anyway none should be taken as a complete impersonation of Hunter as I don't think they were written to be exact versions of himself.

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CaptainSiberia writes:
on Sep 26 2007 05:20 PM

"Sorta" played Hunter S. Thompson? He WAS Hunter S. Thompson! We were to understand from the beginning that Raoul Duke was an assumed name!

I hope they do a new DVD of Fear and Loathing. Criterion's looked identical to the older Universal disc.

I'm certainly excited to hear the news. I await the film with bated breath.

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