Black Mass, the film that will star Johnny Depp as notorious Boston mobster Whitey Bulger, will no longer be a completely indie project. Warner Bros. has agreed to co-finance the film with Cross Creek Pictures.
The project and Depp have had an on-again-off-again relationship over the past year. He was first set to star in the film in February 2013 but later dropped out because of a contract dispute. Then, in January, he started talking with the producers again as Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper came onboard to replace Barry Levinson as director. The deal was made official earlier this month when Exclusive Media began selling foreign distribution rights at the European Film Market in Berlin.
On Thursday, Deadline reported that Warner Bros. has entered the picture and will take worldwide distribution rights. Exclusive Media is now no longer involved.
With the major studio on board, filming is expected to start soon on location in Boston and will take eight weeks. The studio is hoping to release the film in October 2015.
While most of the cast isn’t set, Joel Edgerton is back on board to star as John Connolly, the disgraced FBI agent who allegedly worked with Bulger. The infamous criminal was captured in 2011 and will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
Black Mass is based on Black Mass: The True Story Of An Unholy Alliance Between The FBI And The Irish Mob, the 2001 book by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill.
image courtesy of NBC