Robert Rodriguez is on the interview circuit, promoting his highly anticipated film GRINDHOUSE (co-directed with buddy Quentin Tarantino). Never reluctant to discuss his future film projects or his favorite actors, Rodriguez told Shaun Adler of MTV that he has Johnny Depp in mind as his protagonist for the third installment of SIN CITY. The director had hoped to cast Johnny in the original SIN CITY, but the scheduling didn’t work out: “He was interested in doing the Jackie Boy character that Benicio [del Toro] played,” Rodriguez says, “but he was doing that movie LIBERTINE in Europe and it just kept getting pushed and delayed and went right through our shooting schedule.”

Now Rodriguez hopes to be able to reunite with Johnny, who played the unforgettable Agent Sands in ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, when cameras roll for SIN CITY 3, which will focus on the Frank Miller story “Hell and Back.” Rodriguez wants Johnny to play Wallace, “a brooding artist who, due to being drugged repetitively, wanders through most of the tale hallucinating,” reports MTV. Says Rodriguez, “I kept going, ‘Gosh, Jackie Boy is a small part, he could be really good [as Wallace].'” When Johnny’s schedule prevented him from appearing in the first SIN CITY, Rodriguez reflects, “I thought maybe it was meant to be.” We hope so, too. But before SIN CITY 3 can happen, the director will have to shoot SIN CITY 2, which is based on the Miller story “A Dame to Kill For” and features many characters from the original film.

Thanks to RumLover for sharing the news; there is a SIN CITY discussion underway on the News & Views forum. We’d love to see Johnny re-team with Robert Rodriguez on any future project. They make beautiful music together. –Part-Time Poet