Casting Net: Johnny Depp exits 'Black Mass'; Plus, Forest Whitaker
? Johnny Depp is a busy man. He’s got a major summer release on the horizon with The Lone Ranger, he’s filming Wally Pfister’s Transcendence, Pirates of the Caribbean 5 is expected to start shooting in January, and he’s also gearing up for Disney’s adaptation of Into the Woods. But, the actor did decide to exit the Barry Levinson-directed Whitey Bulger biopic Black Mass, reportedly due to a salary cut asked of Depp, who had been circling the project for some time and officially committed in late February 2013. Joel Edgerton (Zero Dark Thirty) recently joined Black Mass to play an FBI agent who is close with Bulger. Cross Creek Pictures has not yet announced a replacement. [THR]
? Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) is reportedly in talks to play Martin Luther King, Jr. in director Paul Greengrass’ (Flight 93) next film, Memphis. The movie will chronicle the final days of the civil rights leader’s life. Whitaker can be seen next in Lee Daniels’ The Butler (out August 16) and Scott Cooper’s Out of the Furnace (out October 4). [The Wrap]
? Melissa Leo, who won an Oscar for her performance in The Fighter, is in negotiations to join The Equalizer alongside Denzel Washington. She’d be re-teaming with her Olympus Has Fallen director Antoine Fuqua for the project. The story is based on the 1980s CBS series about Robert McCall (Washington), a government intelligence agent who quits to use his skills to help normal citizens. Leo would play the part of one of McCall’s former co-workers. Chloe Moretz also stars. [Deadline]
? Katherine Waterson (daughter of Sam Waterson), has been cast in Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice which will begin shooting this summer. Waterson has been acting for over a decade and appeared recently in Being Flynn and Robot & Frank. She can also be seen in Kelly Reichardt’s Night Moves with Jesse Eisenberg and Peter Sarsgaard about a group of extreme environmentalists. [Deadline]
? 30 Rock’s Cheyenne Jackson, who also appeared recently in Behind the Candelabra, has signed on to join Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2) and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter series) in Love Is Strange about a gay couple (Gambon and Molina) who marry and then are forced to separate temporarily due to outside forces. Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On) is directing. [Deadline]
? CSI: Miami’s Rex Linn will play a sheriff in Seth MacFarlane’s A Million Ways to Die in the West, which stars Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson, and Charlize Theron and is currently filming in New Mexico. Linn recently played the role of Tennessee Harry in Django Unchained. [THR]
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