Shantaram

[Hunter Rider]

http://comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=12185

Source: Variety
December 1, 2005



Peter Weir (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) will direct Shantaram, the Warner Bros. adaptation of the Gregory David Roberts novel that will star Johnny Depp. Variety says Weir will develop the script with Eric Roth. The studio hopes to begin production late next year.

The film is being produced by Initial Entertainment Group's Graham King along with Depp's Infinitum Nihil and Plan B's Brad Pitt.

The film's protagonist is an Australian heroin addict who escapes a maximum-security prison and reinvents himself in India as a doctor in the slums of Bombay. His attempt to find medicine for his destitute patients leads him into counterfeiting, gunrunning and smuggling.

WB executives envisioned an epic film when they agreed to pay $2 million for worldwide rights to the novel last year.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Sounds very promising IMO

 

[unknownuser]

yeah, sounds very interesting

 

[Darth Rockwell]

well if anyone can pull that kind of character off it will be Depp.

 

[Dark Donnie]

Sounds cool, very much like a Depp movie IMO! I like Weir being attached as well. Plan B Productions is picking some intresting movies to produce.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Sounds cool, very much like a Depp movie IMO! I like Weir being attached as well. Plan B Productions is picking some intresting movies to produce.

I agree,The character seems perfect for Depp in that eccentric type of way

 

[Dark Donnie]

I agree,The character seems perfect for Depp in that eccentric type of way

Any ideas of other characters in the film?

 

[Hunter Rider]

Any ideas of other characters in the film?

no but the book may be worth checking out in advance

 

[Mentok]

I read the book last year... very weird. You just cant believe half the stuff this guy did.

Depp sounds like a great fit, I wonder how good his Aussie accent id.

 

[Mentok]

Internet spasm.

 

[Mentok]

Internet spasm

 

[Hunter Rider]

LOL so nice you said it thrice

 

[Mentok]

What can I say? Its a slow night

 

[Mentok]

Some info on the Author for those interested.

http://www.shantaram.com/

 

[Erundur]

great book, I'm currently reading it right now , Depp will do a great Job.

 

[Hunter Rider]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=18497


Mira Nair to Direct Depp's Shantaram
Source: Variety
January 19, 2007


Variety reports that Mira Nair will direct the big-budget Johnny Depp-starrer Shantaram for Warner Bros. Pictures, with Graham King's Initial Entertainment Group and Depp's Infinitum Nihil producing. Brad Pitt's Plan B is a producer as well.

Production is likely to begin as soon as this fall, with a possible 2008 release. Nair will direct from a script by Eric Roth, who is adapting Gregory David Roberts' novel of the same name. The novel is based partly on the author's own adventures, according to publisher St. Martin's Press.

In Shantaram, an Australian heroin addict escapes from a maximum-security prison and reinvents himself as a doctor treating the destitute in the slums of Bombay. His drive to procure medicine leads him into counterfeiting, gun-running and smuggling.

Nair's credits include Vanity Fair, with Reese Witherspoon, Monsoon Wedding, and upcoming The Namesake.

 

[Poeman]

What do you guys think of this movie coming out? Based on the book and life of Gregory David Roberts

Russell Crowe and Johnny Depp were fighting over purchasing the rights to the film and Johnny Won out.

Will be produced by Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp. Written by Eric Roth Directed by Mira Nair and also star the legendary Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan

PLOT: Shantaram is a story about an Australian heroin addict who escapes from prison and arrives in Bombay (Mumbai) with a fake passport. He assumes a new name, Lindsay There he meets Prabaker, a happy-go-lucky taxi driver. After he is robbed of all his money he moves from a hotel to the slums where Prabaker lives. In the slums he finds peace by opening a free-clinic. In search of more medicine he comes across a Mumbia Don (mafia boss) who helps Lindsay with his clinic and recruits him as a money launderer and passport foregoer. Lindsay falls in love with India while finding love, redemption, a purpose and heartbreak. He spends time in slums, company of mafia bosses, drug dens and in a tiny Indian village where he gains the name Shantaram.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0429087/

 

[echostation]

the script for this is apparently Brilliant... Johnny Depp is even doing a bollywood style DAnce number in the film with the Big B in the film that's meant to be pretty sharp and tongue in cheek