Hunter S. Thompson’s Rum Diary to hit screens Starring Johnny Depp

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Principal photography began on "The Rum Diary" on March 25th, 2009 in Puerto Rico. Based on the first novel by Hunter S. Thompson, the film stars Johnny Depp, who is joined by Aaron Eckhart, Amber Heard, Michael Rispoli, Richard Jenkins and Giovanni Ribisi. Bruce Robinson, who also wrote the screenplay, is directing. "The Rum Diary" represents the debut film of Infinitum Nihil, the production company headed by Johnny Depp and Christi Dembrowski. The film is based on the work of the author Johnny Depp was friends with, and will be shot entirely in Puerto Rico.

Based on the debut novel by outsider author Hunter S. Thompson, which initiated his long, distinguished and brilliantly unpredictable career, "The Rum Diary" tells the increasingly unhinged story of itinerant journalist Paul Kemp (Depp). Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of late Eisenhower-era America, Kemp travels to the pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local San Juan newspaper, the San Juan Star, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman (Jenkins). Adopting the rum-soaked life of the late '50s version of Hemingway's "The Lost Generation," Paul soon becomes increasingly obsessed with Chenault (Heard), the wildly attractive Connecticut-born fiancee of Sanderson (Eckhart), a businessman involved in shady property development deals.

The films Writer / director Bruce Robinson was nominated for an Academy Award® as well as a Golden Globe for his screenplay "The Killing Fields". He won the WGA Award and BAFTA Award for that script. Since beginning his acting career in 1984, Johnny Depp has carved a very special niche for himself as an actor of surprising versatility and uncompromising artistry, creating an extraordinary gallery of performances in films. "The Rum Diary" marks the second film in which Depp has starred based on a work by Hunter S. Thompson, having starred in Terry Gilliam's screen version of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". Depp has garnered numerous awards and many nominations; most notably three Academy Award® nominations for Best Actor in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2004), "Finding Neverland" (2005) and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (2008).

Depp won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his acting as Captain Jack Sparrow, now one of film history's most popular screen characters. Depp's other credits include "Edward Scissorhands," "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," "Don Juan DeMarco," "Donnie Brascoe," "Sleepy Hollow," "Chocolat," "Blow," "Once Upon a Time in Mexico," "The Libertine," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," as well as the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy. Forthcoming films starring Depp are Michael Mann's "Public Enemies" and Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland."

© 2009, The Hollywood Sentinel. With kind courtesy of GK Films.