14 DAY TRIAL // One of the films Johnny Depp was supposed to start working on very soon was the biopic of the Boston gangster Whitey Bulger, “Black Mass.” He’s opted to exit the project after he was asked to cut his fee.
The Hollywood Reporter says that the film sold “softly” at the Cannes Film Festival and, with interest in it not as high as anticipated, producer and director Barry Levinson told Depp he must forego his usual fee.
Depp’s response was a resounding no.
“Depp was to have been paid his usual quote of $20 million [€15.4 million], according to sources, but with sales of the project at Cannes on the soft side, producers were looking to trim the budget, in the high $60 million [€46.2 million] range,” THR writes.
“Depp was asked to take half, according to sources, and the actor and his reps at UTA refused. The situation came to a crux Wednesday,” adds the same media outlet.
The film is based on “Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob” by Dick Lehr / Gerald O’Neill. With Depp out, producers are now probably looking for a (cheaper) replacement.