With exactly one month to go until its theatrical release, Warner Bros. has pumped out the latest TV spot for Scott Cooper’s Whitey Bulger crime drama Black Mass, showcasing style, crime, and a performance that could mark a return to form for Johnny Depp.
Assuming the role of the infamous Bulger, Black Mass will have Depp play the sociopath who ruled Boston from the shadows, simultaneously operating as an FBI informant and pulling the strings in the city’s criminal underbelly. Even before today’s sneak peek, the first trailers for Cooper’s drama hint at a deep and complex role for the Hollywood A-lister, and the film harbors all the dramatic potential for Depp to sink his teeth into the meaty role. Sporting a hair piece and dental prosthetics, the Pirates of the Caribbean stalwart is nearly unrecognizable in the lead role, and we’re excited to see his turn as the criminal sociopath in a month’s time.
Mind you, Cooper – best known for Crazy Heart and 2013’s Out of the Furnace – has assembled an ensemble cast for Black Mass, with the new images released spotlighting the likes of Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Kevin Bacon, Dakota Johnson, Juno Temple, W Earl Brown, Corey Stoll, Julianne Nicholson.
Set to make its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Black Mass will then open in theaters on September 18. For now, you can get acquainted with some of the film’s lead characters via the gallery below.
In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly (Edgerton) persuades Irish mobster Jimmy Bulger (Depp) to collaborate with the FBI in order to eliminate their common enemy: the Italian mob. The drama tells the story of this unholy alliance, which spiraled out of control, allowing Whitey to evade law enforcement while consolidating his power and becoming one of the most ruthless and dangerous gangsters in Boston history.
