Johnny Depp's next role unclear as green lights delayed
(Agencies)
2009-07-22 17:22
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In other words, it's a very 2009 phenomenon brought on by a star's choosiness on the one hand and studios' increasing caution on the other. (In what might be an emerging mini-trend, Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio happen to find themselves in similar situations.)
The result is that Depp could face a year or longer without appearing on the big screen.
That might not sound like a major departure, but for moviegoers, it will seem like a shift. Depp has been in one of the most fertile periods of his career: The actor also stars in the Hunter S. Thompson adaptation "The Rum Diary" and had a supporting role in Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which hasn't yet been released in the U.S. In the past nine years, Depp has not had more than two movies come out in any 18-month period; if "Imaginarium" gets a release by the end of 2010, he'll have had four.
Then again, the absence of a new role might mean a respite from his breakneck schedule. Even a pirate needs some time off.