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."