Johnny Depp to voice Rango for Gore Verbinski
Johnny Depp will reunite with “Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski on “Rango,” an animated pic that Paramount will finance and distribute.
The studio has slotted the film for a March 2011 release.Depp will voice the lead character, a household pet that goes on an adventure to discover its true self.
John Logan (”The Aviator”) has penned the script from an idea hatched by Verbinski. Verbinski will work with Industrial Light & Magic on the animation.
- from Variety
Michael Caine Says Johnny Depp Is The Riddler, Philip Seymour Hoffman Is The Penguin?!
It’s one of the biggest — and most hotly debated — questions in fandom…which actors (and characters) will director Christopher Nolan enlist as a villain for his third “Batman” film? Rumors have abounded since the release of “The Dark Knight,” and Nolan has remained fiercely tight-lipped. But now, has one of his main players let slip some of the biggest casting news of the decade?
In an interview with MTV News, Michael Caine seemed to confirm rumors that the next installment of the “Batman” film franchise will feature two very well-known names playing the roles of The Riddler and the Bumbershoot Bandit, The Penguin. “They’ve already got them in mind,” said Caine, when asked who he’d like to see take up arms against the Caped Crusader. “It’s Johnny Depp as The Riddler. And The Penguin is Philip Seymour Hoffman. I read it in the paper.”
So Caine is like the rest of us, reading gossip in the tabloids, right? Except for one thing…according to the actor, he confirmed the news through the studio itself.
“When Christopher [Nolan] said we were going to do ‘The Dark Knight’ next, I didn’t what that meant in Batman terms,” related Caine, who plays Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth. “I said, ‘What’s the story?’ and he said The Joker. I said, ‘Oh, s–t! How are you going to top Jack [Nicholson]?’ He said, ‘Well, I’ve cast Heath Ledger. And I went ‘Ha! I couldn’t top Jack, but if anyone could, maybe Heath could.’ And he did.
“I was with [a Warner Bros.] executive and I said, ‘Are we going to make another one?’ They said yeah. I said, ‘How the hell are we going to top Heath? And he says ‘I’ll tell you how you top Heath — Johnny Depp as The Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin.’ I said, ‘S–t, they’ve done it again!’” [Laughs]
- from MTV
Johnny Depp Rocks Out for a Good Cause
Johnny Depp went back to one of his first loves – playing the guitar – at a benefit concert in Pompano Beach, Fla., Friday night.
The Oscar nominee played a 90-minute set with his bandmates from The Kids, a power-pop group formed in 1978 when Depp was a South Florida high schooler, at the 2,800-seat Club Cinema.
And Depp had two of his biggest fans in the audience watching him: girlfriend Vanessa Paradis and their 9-year-old daughter Lily-Rose, who sat together in the venue’s box seats as Depp smiled up at them from the stage (son Jack, 6, was not at the show).
Last year, Depp reunited with his band for a similar gig, held in honor of the band’s late manager, Sheila Witkin, with proceeds donated to the Dan Marino Foundation. The former Miami Dolphin football player’s charity funds programs for children with special needs – including the Marino Autism Research Institute. Marino’s 17-year-old son Michael has autism.
- from People
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy 6-Disc Blu-ray Announced!
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment presents the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy: 6-Disc Blu-ray Hi-Def collection, available on September 16, 2008. Filled with spectacular action, irreverent humor, seafaring myth and magic, all three blockbuster films from producer Jerry Bruckheimer will be available for the first time together in a Blu-ray collection. The six-disc set boasts a precious trove of bonus features including behind- the-scenes-documentaries, hilarious bloopers and a captivating Blu-ray exclusive: Enter the Maelstrom, which takes viewers deep into the franchise’s epic conclusion, a perilous whirlpool of unimaginable scale. With feature film presentations created from the original digital source files, Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy: 6-Disc Blu-ray Hi-Def delivers the ultimate home viewing experience.
Get lost in the swashbuckling phenomenon that took the world by storm! All three chapters of the thrilling Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy are now available in one thrilling, eye-popping, ear-stunning Blu-ray boxed set. Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands, Chocolat), Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings trilogy, Troy) and Keira Knightley (King Arthur) head up a stellar cast that also includes Geoffrey Rush (Oscar® winner, Best Actor, Shine 1991), Jonathan Pryce (“What A Girl Wants”), Chow Yun Fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Bill Nighy (Love Actually) and Keith Richards.
Experience Captain Jack Sparrow’s (Depp) quest from the very beginning as he and his crew reclaim the Black Pearl and discover the cursed treasure that has doomed Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) to live among the undead. The astonishing ride continues with amazing battles against the legendary ruler of the ocean depths, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), and against leviathans from the deep, culminating in a reunion of the Pirate Lords and a titanic maelstrom battle. With these three epic films and an ocean full of extras, the Pirates of the Caribbean Gift Set is a treasure of entertainment in Disney Blu-ray — Magic in High Definition.
Bonus Features
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
· Scoundrels of the Sea: Piecing Together the Treasured Past of Pirates (In-movie Feature exclusive to Blu-ray Disc)
· 3 Audio Commentaries – Gore Verbinsky and Johnny Depp; Jerry Bruckheimer, Keira Knightley and Jack Davenport
· An Epic At Sea: The Making of Pirates
· Blooper Reel
· Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates
· Deleted and Alternate Scenes
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
· Audio Commentary: - Screenwriters Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
· Liars Dice (exclusive Blu-ray Disc game)
· Bloopers of the Caribbean
· Charting The Return Pre-production documentary
· According To Plan The Harrowing and True Story of Dead Man’s Chest
· Captain Jack: From Head To Toe
· Mastering The Blade
· Meet Davy Jones: Anatomy Of A Legend
· Creating The Kraken
· Dead Men Tell No Tales: Re-Imagineering The Attraction
· Fly On The Set: The Bone Cage
· Jerry Bruckheimer: A Producer’s Photo Diary
· Pirates On Main Street: The Dead Man’s Chest Premiere
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
· Enter the Maelstrom (Blu-ray Disc exclusive) – An immersive, eye-popping tour like never before!
· Bloopers of the Caribbean
· Keith & The Captain: On Set With Johnny Depp and The Rock Legend – Like father, like son. A revealing look at the dynamic relationship between rock ‘n roll legend Keith Richards and Academy Award® nominee Johnny Depp
· Anatomy Of A Scene: The Maelstrom – A detailed breakdown of one of the most complex and impressive action set pieces in cinema history
· The Tale Of Many Jacks – An in-depth look at the mind-blowing FX that went into creating multiple Captain Jacks
· Hoist The Colors – The inspiration for the movie’s original composition “Hoist the Colors”
· Masters Of Design – Five documentaries highlighting the talented design teams behind this immense production
· Inside the Brethren Court – The secrets of at the legendary Pirate Lords, including their costume designs, origins and unique personalities
· The World of Chow Yun-Fat – A look at the man behind devious Captain Sao Feng, international sensation Chow Yun Fat, and his meteoric rise to fame
· The Pirate Maestro: The Music of Hans Zimmer – Meet the renowned composer of the film’s rousing score
STREET DATE: September 16, 2008
Direct prebook: July 22, 2008
Distributor prebook: August 5, 2008
Suggested retail price: US $82.99 CAN SRP: $119.99
Rated: U.S. PG-13 Canada PG
Bonus features not rated or subtitled, and subject to change.
Feature run time: The Curse Of The Black Pearl: 143 Minutes
Dead Man’s Chest: 150 Minutes
At World’s End: 169 Minutes
Aspect ratio: 1080p High Definition Widescreen (2.35:1)
Sound: English 5.1 Uncompressed (48 kHz/24-bit) and Dolby®5.1 Digital (English, French, Spanish)
Languages: English, French audio.
Spanish and French subtitles.
‘Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’ stars donate to Heath Ledger’s daughter
Little Matilda Ledger’s bank account just got a boost thanks to three generous actors.
Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, the actors who played variations of Heath Ledger’s character Tony in “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” have donated their pay from the film to the late star’s 2-year-old daughter.
The actors made the donation out of concern for Matilda’s financial future, as she was not named in her father’s will.
“They didn’t take money — it goes to Heath’s daughter,” director Terry Gilliam told Britain’s The Sun newspaper.
“That’s extraordinary! And wonderful . . . and when you’re part of that, you think, ‘Ah, this is maybe why I went into the movies in the beginning. I thought it would be full of wonderful people.’
“We’ve got a movie full of wonderful people who did extraordinary things to help.”
- from NY
Johnny Depp set for Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland 3-D’
Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter? Sounds brilliant — and according to one very well-informed source, it’s true. Tim Burton’s upcoming take on the classic Lewis Carroll fairy tale, Alice in Wonderland 3-D is slated for release in 2010. The source reveals to EW.com that the film will be live action until Alice (played by Mia Wasikowska of HBO’s In Treatment) jumps down the rabbit hole and meets the loopy tea party host. The big question is whether Depp himself will don a Hatter outfit, or lend his voice to the computer-generated version. - from EW
Johnny Depp? Tim Burton? Dark Shadows?!
While interviewing GET SMART director Peter Segal this past weekend in Beverly Hills, he spoke briefly about writer John August. Segal says August, who is writing BILLY BATSON AND THE LEGEND OF SHAZAM for Segal over at WB, is jumping back and forth between Tim Burton’s DARK SHADOWS and his SHAZAM script trying to work on both films at the same time due to a back log of work after the writers’ strike earlier this year. So, while we can’t confirm the rumors of Depp starring as Barnabus Collins in DARK SHADOWS, the IESB has confirmed that TIM BURTON is attached to direct and JOHN AUGUST has been brought in to write the adaptation for the film. - From IESB
Hollywood blaze doesn’t stop MTV Movie Awards. Transformers, Johnny Depp take home popcorn.
MTV went ahead with its annual star-studded movie awards at the Universal Studios lot on Sunday, hours after a spectacular blaze destroyed chunks of Hollywood history nearby.
The celebrities on hand, such as host Mike Myers and presenter Will Smith, used the occasion to “pimp” — as Myers said — their upcoming movies, rather than address the damage.
The 17th annual MTV Movie Awards, a fan-driven event with none of the stuffiness or significance of the Oscars, took place in a hilltop theater that overlooked the smoky remains of well-known movie sets and a “King Kong” attraction.
Universal did close the theme park and the CityWalk retail strip, two of the country’s most popular tourist attractions, but the MTV event was not in harm’s way.
Winners are chosen by viewers who cast votes online and were informed beforehand, which partly explained their lack of surprise when their names are announced.
“Transformers” won the top award, best movie, and director Michael Bay said he would start shooting a sequel to the hit action movie on Monday.
Johnny Depp was the only multiple winner. The gum-chewing actor was treated like an all-conquering hero when he first took the stage to accept the best comedic performance award for his turn as pirate Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
- From Reuters
Johnny Depp has a donkey dick?
Danforth Prince and Darwin Porter have published a book titled Hollywood Babylon: It’s Back. In it, they unleash a horde of information you thought you never cared about and lace their tome with full frontal shots of Mick Jagger, Daniel Radcliffe, Ewan McGregor, John Malkovich, James Woods, Richard Gere and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Basically, stuff you can find on the internet. But, they also claim Sean Connery and Johnny Depp have big dicks. As for Johnny Depp, ladies will be interested to know that he was known as “donkey dick.” - From theblemish.com