Johnny Depp in talks to play famed magician in “Secret Life of Houdini”May 28, 2014 - 14:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Johnny Depp is in negotiations to star as famed magician Harry Houdini in Lionsgate/Summit's The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero. Dean Parisot (Red 2) is directing, The Hollywood Reporter said exclusively. The story, which is said to be in the vein of Indiana Jones, recasts Houdini as not just a master escape artist but an investigator of the world of the occult. Noah Oppenheim wrote the screenplay, which is based on William Kalush and Larry Sloman's book of the same name. Depp is coming off two box-office disappointments in Transcendence and The Lone Ranger. But he also is set to revisit two blockbuster franchises in the coming year with Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and a sequel to Alice in Wonderland, both at Disney. Alice 2, also known as Through the Looking Glass, will shoot next, after he finishes the Whitey Bulger crime drama Black Mass. The only question is whether Secret Life of Houdini will shoot before Pirates 5. Lionsgate is eyeing a November 2014 start, which would push Pirates' production to early 2015. Depp teamed with Lionsgate on the upcoming film Mortdecai, which will be released Feb. 6, 2015. Christi Dembrowski, Depp's producing partner at Infinitum Nihil, also is in negotiations to produce Secret Life of Houdini alongside Frank Marshall (The Bourne Legacy) and Bruce Cohen (Silver Linings Playbook). Dembrowski and Depp also produced Mortdecai. Photo: Celebrity4u.net Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. |