The Rum Diary...Finally!!

Talk about The Rum Diary has been off and on ever since Johnny Depp played Hunter S. Thompson in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. For years people speculated when Johnny Depp would return for the adaptation of the book, but years just kept passing and The Rum Diary quickly became a fleeting memory. This time, it definately appears that The Rum Diary is actually happening. What is even better, the film has a set date to start shooting in March.

What about Depp? There is no way this film would move forward without him, right? Well on Monday, The Bad and Ugly got their hands on a SAG casting call for Chenault, who is the love interest in "The Rum Diary." Outside of the description for Chenault, the casting sheet indicates that Johnny Depp is in fact in the title role of Paul Kemp (an alter ego fo Hunter S. Thompson) and filming is set to begin in March.

The casting sheet went as follows:

THE RUM DIARY (One Role) Feature Film
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: GK FILMS & INFINITUM NIHIL
UNION: SAG
Writer/Director: Bruce Robinson Based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson
Casting Director: Denise Chamian
Casting Associate: Angela Demo
NY Casting Associate: Julie Schubert

Casting Assistant: Krysti Charron

Start Date: March 2009

SUBMIT JULIE SCHUBERT TEL: XXX-XXX-XXXX

[PAUL KEMP] -Johnny Depp

SEEKING: [CHENAULT] A beautiful, 25 year old, translucent vision from Connecticut, with a killer smile and a wry, enigmatic personality, she wears barely-there sarongs, sunbathes nude, and oozes sexuality in everything she does. She enchants and mesmerizes Kemp from the moment they meet: while both escaping a tedious, high-end party. Chenault is dating and possibly engaged to Sanderson, but clearly feels an attraction to Kemp. She’s a daredevil who loves to dance and drive fast. She gets into big trouble with a lust-crazed, violent crowd during Carnival in St. Thomas. .. LEAD. This role contains nudity.

STORY LINE: 1960: Divorced alcoholic and struggling novelist PAUL KEMP decides to kick around San Juan until his ship comes in, working as a journalist for a daily newspaper that’s on its last legs, drinking gallons of rum and experimenting with LSD. With his new friend BOB SALA by his side, he becomes entangled in a corrupt hotel development scheme with a slick PR consultant named SANDERSON, and falls in love with Sanderson’s unattainable girlfriend, CHENAULT. . .

So, unless The Rum Diary hits a major production speedbump, we should be seeing the film by late 2009, early 2010. The Bad and Ugly has gone on record saying that casting assistant Krysti Charron has been eyeballing both Scarlett Johannson and Keira Knightley. Really? Haven't those two been the lust of some man enough as of late? Furthermore, haven't we see Knightley and Depp swoon eachother enough in the Pirates series? I am sure there is somebody else out there that is both sensual and attractive with acting ability outside of these two!

Thank god Depp is doing The Rum Diary finally! What say you? Who should play opposite Depp in the film? Does Keira Knightley or Scarlett Johannson intice you? What about Bob Sala and the PR Consultant, who would fill those roles nicely? Will Benecio Del Toro pop his head up again in The Rum Diary? Strikeback...