Eric Roth, whose screenplay for FORREST GUMP won an Oscar, has been hired by Warner Bros. to adapt the screenplay for their upcoming film SHANTARAM, starring Johnny Depp. Roth will be taking over screenwriting duties from Gregory David Roberts, who wrote the bestselling novel. Warner Bros. paid $2 million in 2004 for the rights to film SHANTARAM, Roberts’ epic and semi-autobiographical tale of an Australian heroin addict who escapes from prison and creates a new life as a doctor in India.

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