JohnnyDepp-Zone.com

If you are counting down the days until Captain Jack Sparrow returns to your local multiplex, you can soothe your Sparrow craving by picking up a DVD of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, which was released this week by Disney. The trailer for PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST is included on the NARNIA DVD; Zoners in region 1 and region 2 report that the trailer appears on both the one and two-disc DVD versions, and that it is the same trailer we have been seeing in theaters (and on the Internet) for some time now. Deppfans in the UK (or with access to a bookstore which carries international magazines) can also obtain a copy of the trailer via purchase of the May issue of TOTAL FILM, which contains a DVD featuring trailers for many summer movies, including POTC: DEAD MAN’S CHEST. Thanks to sandstorm and Gilbert’s Girl for sharing the news!

Word that Johnny Depp had signed to play Sebastian Dangerfield in a film version of J. P. Donleavy’s ribald classic THE GINGER MAN fueled an explosion of interest in that novel on the Zone. ONBC has chosen THE GINGER MAN as its latest novel–their discussion began on April 3rd and continues to the end of the month. Zone member suec had the chance to hear author Donleavy speak at a fiction festival at King’s Lynn in the UK, and she has published a lively account of Donleavy’s talk and her own brief tete-a-tete with the celebrated writer. Yes, suec was brave enough to approach Mr. Donleavy and ask a few questions; well done, suec! Here’s a brief excerpt from suec’s post:

“[A]fter the queue had gone, I approached him. He told me that he had allowed the film [of THE GINGER MAN] to be made because ‘Mr Depp came along. He is a brilliant man’ and that he wouldn’t allow it to be made before because of the need to retain control over it. He said he didn’t have much to do with American writers and was only aware that Hunter S. Thompson had liked his book because he had read about it in a review. He added, ‘You know Mr Depp was staying with him? He read my book while he was staying there.’ [. . .] Then he started asking me questions. Where was I from? What did I do for a living? What had brought me there? When I replied, ‘You,’ he looked very disconcerted and said, ‘Oh dear. That is a terrible responsibility.’

You can read suec’s entire delightful tale–and see her pictures–on the ONBC forum, in the thread “suec Reports! An Evening with Donleavy!” To see a larger view of the thumbnail of Mr. Donleavy, click HERE. Thanks very much to suec for sharing her adventure.