Johnny Depp In Talks To Star As Houdini In New Biopic

Not so long ago, thousands of hardcore fans from around the world were probably crouched in fetal position in their beds, sobbing hysterically, when they heard that Johnny Depp is about to quit acting. In one of his interviews following “The Lone Ranger” he shared that he is not far away from reaching that decision. And no wonder he stated that, considering “The Lone Ranger” turned out to be a major flop, often panned by regular Joe the movie goer and professional critics alike.

Soon after that we witnessed “Transcendence” face pretty much the same scenario. But in the meantime, not only did Johnny Depp not quit, but he took on a massive amount of new projects (just take a quick look at his imdb page). He just went on to prove once again that he belongs to the group of some of the biggest workaholics of the industry.

So it is certain Johnny is not about to vanish from the industry any time soon, but he might just vanish on screen, as there are plans for him to star in a new Lionsgate movie about Houdini. Negotiations are underway.

The full and lengthy title says “The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero.”

The movie will be based on a book of the same name written by William Kalush and Larry Sloman.

The script is provided by Noah Oppenheim, and the guy pulling all the strings will be Dean Parisot (“Fun with Dick and Jane”, “RED 2”)

This fresh new project will probably mess with Depp’s already tight schedule, but it is not clear to what degree. Should he accept the role, there is a good chance that the fifth installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” will be moved as well, as Lionsgate wants the Houdini project to kick November this year.

The movie will not only feature the side of Harry Houdini as a magician and stunt performer, but also his investigating and debunking various psychics, mediums and other spiritualists claiming to possess some fancy supernatural abilities.

Depp has already made some acclaimed movies about famous people and their colorful lives. His portrayals of Hunter S. Thompson and Ed Wood, and of course his brilliant performance as J.M. Barrie in “Finding Neverland”, will live on and inspire actors for many years to come. Being such a powerful character actor, this role might just prove to be the revitalizing injection his acting career desperately needs.

In the end, the question arises: will the service of stunt performers in portraying a legendary stunt performer be considered cheating in this biopic?