After he left Joel Edgerton hanging on the Whitey Bulger biopic Black Mass, it could be said that Johnny Depp is giving his colleague a bit of a repayment. According to Deadline, the Zero Dark Thirty star is being tapped to lead Shantaram, thanks to the latter, as a producer, providing a role that had been meant for himself several years back. With a new start on WB’s dime, such lengthy delays are a thing of the past — and, we can hope, that other thing is let go.

Taken from a novel by Gregory David Roberts — since adapted by Eric Roth (Benjamin Button, Munich) — the picture follows Lin, maximum-security prisoner who flees his Australian confinement, gets a fake passport, and heads for Bombay. Once there, he engages both sides by opening a clinic and participating in mafia action, only to, eventually, find himself dealing weapons used in the Afghani resistance to invading Soviet forces. The most unbelievable part of that story? It’s based in large part on the experiences of Roberts himself.

Depp is to produce via his company, Inifinitum Nihil, alongside Christi Dembrowski, while GK Films will also provide backing. Shantaram is currently seeking a director — the once-attached Peter Weir would’ve made a great fit; that absence is a real shame — after which, one imagines, cameras will roll.

What do you think of Edgerton tackling this true story?

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