Last May it was reported that Boston’s boy Johnny Depp had dropped out of playing mob kingpin Whitey Bulger, with Depp’s need to do right by his pallies down at the packie superseded by his need to earn $20 million. But now it seems that, like back when he used to bang a U-ie on Beacon, Depp has turned around, signing up again to play the gangster turned FBI informant turned fugitive in the Scott Cooper-directed Black Mass. No mention has been made of money—Johnny Depp will tell you they don’t talk about that shit in Boston—but it’s presumed a deal closer to Depp’s guarantee was reached now that the biopic is aiming to pull ahead of the many other Bulger projects in the works, with talks also involving Tom Hardy to play Bulger’s childhood pal John Connolly, who eventually went to work for the FBI and tipped Bulger off about his impending indictment. Or, it’s possible Depp just had a heart-to-heart with Sully, who told him not to be such a chucklehead and do one for Boston—like when he made Don Juan DeMarco; that shit was wicked.
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