Johnny Depp's Latest Role Taking a Dark Turn

Johnny Depp's finally going to trade in his Captain Jack Sparrow hat to put on a fedora instead, and we're super excited about it. At one point, Depp was set to star with Joel Edgerton in director Barry Levinson's film Black Mass , a drama about American murderer and crime leader-turned-fugitive Whitey Bulger. The film was shut down last summer due to budget problems, but now, it's back on track and full steam ahead. On Friday, it was announced that Johnny Depp would play Bulger in Black Mass, and director Scott Cooper, from "Out Of The Furnace" fame, will be at the helm.

Now, Tom Hardy is reportedly in talks to play John Connolly, Bulger's childhood friend turned FBI agent. Ohhhh yes. This just got even better with Bane involved. Connolly is currently in prison for telling Bulger he would be indicted. That was the reason that Bulger shot from being a crime leader to one of the FBI's most wanted.

The film is based off of the bestselling book, "Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob," by authors Dick Lehr and Gerald O’Neill. The script will be written by Mark Mallouk, and the film will tell Bulger's whole story of being an informant to the FBI while also being a murderer and leader of the gang The Winter Hill Gang. The Winter Hill Gang is a still-active gang of Boston-area crime figures with mostly Irish and Italian backgrounds.

Bulger took over the gang in 1979 when the previous leader was arrested, and apparently never looked back. He was finally captured after 16 years on the run in 2011. This is all kinds of creepy, and with Depp as Bulger, it will undoubtedly be riveting and awesome since he always gets into darker roles so excellently. And this one's dark.

The film is reportedly starting production in May.