Depp, Del Toro will get a taste of Thompson's Rum
Just call him the Caribbean's King. "Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp, who went south of the border in this weekend's box office hit "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," will be going tropical again, for director Benicio Del Toro.
The two, who co-starred in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," will team for the film version of Hunter S. Thompson's classic The Rum Diaries. The film is about love, treachery and lust amid the palm tree-lined setting of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the 1950s. Joining Depp will be Josh Hartnett, Nick Nolte and Del Toro, who also will act in the project.
It's part of Depp's one-two rum punch after this summer's "Pirates of the Caribbean" hit the $290 million mark this weekend.
As for "Mexico," Robert Rodriguez wanted Depp to do a small role because his character Sands is "the nastiest, darkest character I could come up with and I knew the only person who could play him is Johnny Depp. He's the only one who could make this guy likable."
Depp liked that he was playing "a great manipulator. This particular assignment is like a big chess game to him. He uses people as pawns."