Articles from March 2013



Johnny Depp will do a Q&A for THE LONE RANGER in Las Vegas on April 17–submit your own question via Twitter or Facebook!

Lone Ranger stars Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, director Gore Verbinski, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer will conduct a question-and-answer session to promote the film in Las Vegas on April 17, 2013. During the live streaming event, which will take place at the AMC Town Square 18 in Las Vegas at 4 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. PT, the quartet (see photo HERE) will take questions from the lucky fans in attendance and from the rest of us, watching all around the world online HERE. You can submit your question for Johnny (or any of the other panelists) on Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #LoneRanger.

Fans in the theater will get to see about 20 minutes of exclusive footage which won’t be available online; if you would like to win a trip to the event in Las Vegas and ask Johnny a question in person, go HERE for your chance to win. The sweepstakes runs from March 28 to April 4, 2013.

There will also be a new Lone Ranger trailer premiered during the event which will be available for your viewing pleasure on Yahoo! Movies immediately following the Q&A.

The Lone Ranger promotion coincides with the annual CinemaCon convention, where Disney is expected to offer a similar presentation for theater owners.

The Zone thanks Lou Lou 63 and Emma for breaking the news, and humiliatedgrape for the photo; you can read more about The Lone Ranger on the Zone’s News & Views forum.

Casting news–Kate Mara joins Johnny Depp in TRANSCENDENCE

The ensemble for Wally Pfister’s directorial debut Transcendence, which starts shooting in April, keeps getting more intriguing — today Kate Mara joined Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, and Paul Bettany in the sci-fi drama’s cast. Mara is currently appearing opposite Kevin Spacey in the excellent Netflix series House of Cards; her resume also includes the films 127 Hours, Iron Man 2, Shooter, and We Are Marshall. Mara also played Hayden McClaine in eight episodes of American Horror Story in 2011.

The Zone thanks FANtasticJD for sharing the news; you can read more about Transcendence on the Zone’s News & Views forum. The casting news was first reported by Deadline.com; the story is available HERE.

Johnny Depp wins Favorite Movie Actor at Kids’ Choice Awards! New photos!

Johnny Depp was honored as “Favorite Movie Actor” at the 26th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards for his performance as Barnabas Collins in Dark Shadows. Congratulations, Johnny! He appeared at the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles to accept his Nickelodeon orange blimp trophy in person, much to the delight of the cheering young crowd. While he avoided the large-volume dousing with green slime that is the signature of the Kids’ Choice Awards, Johnny did get smeared as he slapped hands with kids in the crowd; he cheerfully brushed off the slime on his jeans as he stepped to the microphone. “So I did actually end up getting slimed! Thanks for that,” he said, grinning.

“I am truly humbled and yet again honored by your choice,” Johnny said, “especially to be in the category, because there were very talented people in there. I thank you for this, and most importantly, I thank you for what you are, which is the future.” Enjoy some photos of Johnny at the Kids’ Choice Awards HERE.

The Zone thanks Theresa and Pixie for breaking the news and sharing video, and thanks humiliatedgrape, sleepy, Aida, and Theresa for the beautiful pictures. You can read more about the Kids’ Choice Awards on the Zone’s News & Views forum and the Pit General Discussion forum.

THE LONE RANGER book and soundtrack news!

If you are eagerly awaiting the chance to see The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, Disney will help you build anticipation by releasing a behind-the-scenes book written by insider Michael Singer. The Lone Ranger: Behind the Mask will be available on June 25, 2013 with a list price of $40; Amazon.com is offering a pre-order price of $26.40 (with free shipping, too!) Expect glorious photographs, some taken by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and lively anecdotes about the production, which traveled to New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah to capture authentic Western vistas. You’ll get a look at director Gore Verbinski’s production sketches, too! You can see the cover of Michael Singer’s The Lone Ranger: Behind the Mask HERE.

On the same day — June 25, 2013 — Walt Disney Records will release the soundtrack album for The Lone Ranger, with a score composed by Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

The Zone thanks FANtasticJD and Lou Lou 63 for sharing the news; you can read more about The Lone Ranger on the Zone’s News & Views forum.

TRANSCENDENCE co-star Rebecca Hall is “thrilled about working with Johnny”

Rebecca Hall, newly cast as the female lead opposite Johnny Depp in Wally Pfister’s sci-fi drama Transcendence, shared her delight with the press in a recent interview. “I am thrilled about working with Johnny. I mean, come on! I feel like I’ve worked with some seriously great actors and he’s one of those ones on my list of people that I’d really like to work with and then it happened,” she said. Ms. Hall was less forthcoming about the film’s plot or the character she plays, however. “I could tell you lots about it but I don’t think I want to,” she hedged. “I haven’t started yet so I am feeling a bit protective towards it. I’m in the early stages of working out who the character is and what I’m doing with it. I am excited.”

Transcendence begins filming next month. Meanwhile, Ms. Hall was recently honored with the Best Actress award from the Broadcasting Press Guild for her performance in period drama Parade’s End; she will soon be seen with Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 3.

The Zone thanks Emma for sharing the news; you can read more about Transcendence on the Zone’s News & Views forum. The interview with Rebecca Hall is available HERE.

“It’s the largest scandal in FBI history”– director Barry Levinson talks about BLACK MASS and casting Johnny Depp as Whitey Bulger

Director Barry Levinson surprised many when he cast Johnny Depp as Boston master criminal/mob boss Whitey Bulger in his upcoming Universal film Black Mass. Levinson told IGN that he was drawn to the story because of the intricate relationship between Bulger and the FBI: “It’s the largest scandal in FBI history in terms of what took place during that period of time. I think that’s a really interesting story to tell. On the one hand, the FBI’s looking to get rid of the mafia. On the other hand, Whitey Bulger had become an informer. At the same time, he uses that FBI immunity to grow his own racket empire.”

IGN: A lot of folks were kind of struck by the casting. Everyone loves Johnny Depp; he’s a handsome, affable guy, and now he’s playing this stone cold killer. Can you talk about casting Johnny Depp in that part? Is he going to be the villain of the piece, or is he an antihero? What kind of transformation might he do in the movie, because Johnny’s got a lot more hair than Whitey Bulger had!

Levinson: Well, we’re doing different periods of time, so Whitey did have a full head of hair when he was well into his 30s, I believe, from when he had these pictures. Interesting that there are not a lot of pictures of Whitey Bulger, oddly enough. There’s very little on the guy in terms of visually, what he looked like. He did have a receding hairline as he got older, absolutely. But we’ll work on that.

IGN: I’ve met a lot of people, especially women, who met Whitey and the one thing they always remark on were these stone cold blue eyes. One person described it to me as it was like looking at a wolf. Is Johnny going to wear contacts?

Levinson: Well, he does, of this generation of actors, change his looks from one movie to another. I would assume that’d be consistent to him. He’s very chameleon-like.

Current scheduling has Black Mass filming in Boston in July; no other roles have yet been cast.

The Zone thanks Emma for sharing the news; you can read more about Black Mass on the Zone’s News & Views forum.

Rebecca Hall to star with Johnny Depp in TRANSCENDENCE

Wally Pfister’s Transcendence now has a leading lady — Rebecca Hall has joined Johnny Depp and Paul Bettany in the cast of Pfister’s directorial debut. Hall and Pfister previously worked together on Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, for which Pfister served as director of photography. Hall will soon be seen on screen in a major role in Iron Man 3; she just appeared as the leading lady (opposite Benedict Cumberbatch) in the highly-regarded mini-series Parade’s End. Hall also played the bank manager taken hostage in Ben Affleck’s The Town and Vicky in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Although plot details about Transcendence are closely guarded, The Hollywood Reporter states that Hall will play “Depp’s wife, a fellow academic.”

The Zone thanks FANtasticJD for breaking the news. You can read more about Transcendence on the Zone’s News & Views forum. The Hollywood Reporter article is available HERE.

TRANSCENDENCE gets an official release date: April 25, 2014!

Warner Bros. has made an official commitment to Wally Pfister’s Transcendence, scheduling it for release on April 25, 2014. At present, Transcendence has no box-office competition for that date, but tentpole The Amazing Spider-Man 2 arrives on the following weekend. Transcendence stars Johnny Depp and Paul Bettany and marks the directorial debut of Oscar-winning cinematographer Wally Pfister. The Zone thanks Lou Lou 63 for sharing the news; you can read more about Transcendence on the Zone’s News & Views forum.