Columbia Pictures’ The Tourist has been quite the mess over its course of time. Director Bharat Nalluri was once attached to the project, then after he dropped out, it became Alfonso Cuaron, until he also dropped out. Similar changes have gone on in the casting department, with Tom Cruise, Charlize Theron, and Sam Worthington all having been involved at one point or another. However, it seems that the madness may have finally ended, as Florian Henckel von Dommersmarck (The Lives of Others) is firmly poised in the director’s chair, and Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie are tackling the leading roles in the currently shooting film. Read the full story

As a filmmaker with an unfortunate history of encountering production problems that would make most aspiring filmmakers question their dreams, Terry Gilliam is a resilient man. In 1999 he was set to begin production on an adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’s classic novel Don Quixote. Titled The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, it had Johnny Depp in the lead role as a businessman from modern times who is transported back to the time of the title character and is mistaken by him for Sancho Panza, a character from the original story.

The production of the film started rather uneventfully, but soon problems arose. Sets were flooded, thus changing the look of the locations, which meant massive migrations had to take place when moving crew and equipment, and eventually Jean Rochefort who played the title character had to drop out due to back pains that forbade him from riding a horse, which is a crucial aspect of the character. Eventually the financiers pulled out and the production ended.

But now it looks as though The Man Who Killed Don Quixote will have its day in the Spanish sun once again.

The Playlist tells us that work will finally presume on what has now become something of a dream project for the director. There’s a good chance that Depp won’t be returning this time around, as he has a busy schedule and can’t make the time for it. Who will replace him is up in the air at this point in time. However, Robert Duvall said in recent interviews that he will take on the role of the title character in the film. One expects that he’s a trustworthy source and that this will indeed be happening.

Production is expected to begin this fall.

Are you looking forward to seeing a resurrection of Don Quixote?

Note: Anyone interested in the film’s production problems can see them documented first-hand in the excellent documentary Lost in La Mancha.

A film featuring Johnny Depp and a story full of surreal imagery should have been a home run for Tim Burton. This is the man who made Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, Sweeney Todd and even Batman. It’s a wonder how someone as visually impressive and original as Burton could deliver something so utterly generic. On paper Alice in Wonderland sounds like gangbusters, but instead it’s a hollow and meandering run-of-the-mill adventure film. Read the full story

Director Lasse Hallström will be putting the real life couple Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis together for the first time on screen in his new film My American Lover. The film follows the story of French feminist philosopher, writer and theorist Simone de Beauvoir and American novelist Nelson Algren.

Depp revealed this news to Bangshowbiz a few days ago:

“It’s called ‘My American Lover. Vanessa plays the French feminist Simone de Beauvoir and I play her lover Nelson Algren who is real macho.”

The Playlist has suggested that My American Lover will  be based on de Beauvoir’s “A Transatlantic Love Affair: Letters to Nelson Algren,” a collection of correspondences she sent Algren in the late 1940s. The letters center on their transatlantic affair and their travels together through Latin America in 1949. Hopefully de Beauvoir’s other works and feminist actions also infuence the film and develop de Beauvoir’s character independant to that of the love story.

Considering Depp’s schedule, My American Lover is not likely to begin shooting until spring 2011 when Kusturica’s Pancho Villa epic is done shooting in Europe next year.

What do you think of this casting for My American Lover?

Ian McShane will be going on the fourth Pirates adventure, THR reports. He “will play legendary pirate Blackbeard — whose real name was Edward Teach — who piloted the ship Queen Anne’s Revenge.” McShane joins Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz in the Rob Marshall-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The film’s story “revolves around the Fountain of Youth” and will NOT have Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley in it. Read the full story

The release of Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island marks Leonardo DiCaprio and the renowned director’s fourth film together after The Aviator, Gangs of New York, and The Departed. In honor of the duo, here are my top ten Director/Actor collaborations over the years of cinema. Read the full story

Jerry Bruckheimer’s Lone Ranger adaptation may finally have a writer. The Hollywood Reporter says that Revolutionary Road screenwriter Justin Haythe is in talks with Disney to pen the script. Read the full story

Yesterday’s story of Penelope Cruz joining Lars von Trier’s Melancholia proved to be false, but here is another casting announcement with the actress. THR’s Heat Vision Blog is reporting (and since has taken down) that Penelope Cruz (Nine, Broken Embraces) will be joining Johnny Depp in the Rob Marshall-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. The film’s story “revolves around the Fountain of Youth.” Read the full story

Many theater owners complained about G.I. Joe’s quick DVD release last year. Now, as THR reports that Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland theatrical run may get cut short, expect similar complaints. Disney CEO Bob Iger has been talking of changing theatrical windows for awhile, now this is the first test. The usual run for a film is 16 weeks, but Disney wants just 13 for the Johnny Depp-starring fantasy film. Their reason is that family-friendly Disney films usually make a whole lot of bank on DVD/Blu-ray. It is also reported that Alice will come to video-on-demand services earlier. Another plus of the shorter theatrical window is that 3D screens will open up for Clash of the Titans, which opens April 2nd. Read the full story

For the first time since 1997, Johnny Depp will get behind the camera to direct a documentary on The Rolling Stones’ legendary guitarist Keith Richards.  Recall Richards played the father of Depp’s character in the Pirates of the Carribean trilogy.  Depp was quoted saying: Read the full story