Johnny Depp Is NOT on MySpace

This debate just started on the message board again, so I guess it’s time to address it here.

Johnny Depp does NOT have a MySpace or any other official site. Please don’t be fooled by these people, whether they’re on sites like MySpace or on instant messenger, and please don’t ever give out your personal information to anyone like this. It’s not him, I promise, and you have no idea what these people are really after.

If he ever does decide to do an official site, you’ll hear it here first. (Well, maybe not first, but you’ll hear it here… LOL)

In the meantime, just be safe, be smart, and concentrate on the legitimate fan sites that don’t claim to be something they’re not.

Thanks!

The Pirate Portrait Puzzle

There’s been some confusion (mostly my own) over this portrait of Keith Richards as a pirate, but hopefully it’s sorted out now. LOL

This one is the original, the one with the really cool frame from 1988 that was displayed in Richards’ home and was reportedly the inspiration for Captain Jack Sparrow:

The second one (below) which is featured on the Artisan Gallery web site is a later portrait done by the same artist.

Now that that’s sorted out, I’d still like to see him do one of Captain Jack so they can hang side by side in some freaky pirate art gallery.

The Buzz About Captain Jack

In a bit of news, Guardian Unlimited reports the idea of Keith Richards as the model for Captain Jack Sparrow may have been inspired by a painting of Richards in pirate garb which has been displayed in the guitarist’s home since 1988. The painting by Paul Karslake, brother-in-law to Rolling Stone member Ronnie Woods, will be part of the “Survivors” art exhibition at the Artisan gallery in London.

Personally, I’d love to see this painting. Maybe he can do another one of Captain Jack and let them hang side by side. LOL!

Speaking of Jack, rumors abound that filming for POTC3 has either already ended or is nearing the end. How do you folks feel about that?

Are you going to miss Jack Sparrow, or are you looking forward to the many new and different roles Johnny has lined up for us? (Or both?)

News Briefs

- Newsarama.com has an interview with producer Barry Levine whose upcoming projects include “Rex Mundi” through Johnny Depp’s production company. Thanks to Kimberly for the link!

NRAMA: Okay, so Rex Mundi and Johnny Depp. How did you manage to get that set up?

BL: I met Arvid Nelson and Eric J at Comic-Con four years ago as an independent producer and fell in love with the concept, the writing and the artwork. While every other producer was looking for comics that were easy to adapt to film, there’s me picking up one of the most hardest to adapt projects out there. But I just loved it. I really wanted to make it work.

I spent a year trying to get studios interested in it. They all said the same thing… Too dark, too ambitious and too hard to sell. But I have a tattoo on my arm that says, “Who does not hope to win has already lost.” It’s not there for nothing. I wasn’t going to let Arvid, Eric or myself down.

While I was at Dark Horse Entertainment, this was one of the projects that I brought in as part of my deal. Mike (Richardson) saw the same potential as I did and helped get behind the project. I then brought in a friend of mine that I had developed a few projects with before, Alan Riche [MouseHunt, Starsky and Hutch], who brought it to Johnny’s agent at UTA who sent it over to Infinium Nil [Johnny Depp’s production company]. Johnny read the comics, he had already been researching that time period and characters. Once we had established that relationship we worked very closely with Sam Sarkar, who runs development for Johnny. When we sat down with Johnny he fell in love with Eric J’s artwork and that pulled him into the story. Once we had Johnny interested in this as a project for him to star in Jon Levin at CAA suggested a meeting with Jim Uhls [Fight Club]. Johnny, Sam and Jim had several conversations that resulted in Jim coming onboard as the screenwriter.

NRAMA: What can you tell us about their take?

BL: Absolutely nothing. No if I want to keep working in this town. All I can say is that with the combination of talent that has been brought together on this project, you couldn’t ask for anything more.

- ABC.com.au offers an article about Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in its Movie Minutiae section, asking for opinions on the book versus the film.

- EW.com has an interview with Tim Burton in which he briefly mentions working with Johnny in the upcoming Sweeney Todd film. The interviewer asks if Burton foresees a time when he and Johnny will be sick to death of each other. Burton laughs: “No. I’ve been through enough with him, and he’s pretty open to things, and that’s the exciting thing about working with him.”

News Briefs

- MTV.com offers an article in which Tim Burton discusses Johnny and the upcoming Sweeney Todd film:

Maestro of the macabre Tim Burton is almost ready to begin rolling on “Sweeney Todd,” a bloody barber tale he envisions as a hard R-rated horror flick.

“You can’t really skimp on that stuff — it’s got to be what it is. It’s not going to be a G-rated movie, no,” he laughed. “It’s kind of like doing ‘The Sound of Music’ but with lots of blood, so I don’t know how that’s going to work out. We’ll see. I’m excited to try it.”

Burton’s also excited to unveil the vocal work of frequent leading man Johnny Depp, who’ll take on his first singing role in his 20-plus-year career.

“It’s going to be the [actors singing]. That’s important. It’s a movie, it’s not a Milli Vanilli record,” the “Nightmare Before Christmas” mastermind insisted.

So is Burton concerned about gambling his multimillion-dollar movie on a singing voice he’s never even heard?

“No. I go over to his house and we sing show tunes every night. It’s a ritual with us,” he laughed. “Johnny is great. … I’m always looking for some new kind of challenge, and this certainly is that. We are laughing about it already, and we haven’t even started yet.”

Another actor who’ll be exercising her vocal cords is Burton’s girlfriend, Helena Bonham Carter. But the director insisted — contrary to reports — that “Borat” star Sacha Baron Cohen is not on board.

“We don’t know that for sure yet,” he said of the chameleon-esque comedian. “We’re still in the early stages of talking to people.” …

- San Luis Obispo Tribune has an article about some fans who met Johnny and other POTC cast members after a day of filming at Guadalupe Dunes.

- PRNewswire.com reports Tom Thurman’s Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film was presented at the Hollywood Film Festival. The documentary, produced by STARZ, features Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, John Cusack, and Bill Murray, among others.

'Private Resort' Screencaps

I finally broke down and updated the Private Resort screencaps on the site. The first ones I had were from video, so the quality wasn’t very good. These are from the DVD, so they’re a lot better (and there are more of them).

WARNING: There’s backside nudity in one scene, so if you’re offended by stuff like that, don’t say I didn’t warn you. And please don’t send me e-mails telling me what a pervert I am (which has happened over this particular film), because 1) I know that already; and 2) it’s better than fielding thousands of “Where’s the butt?” e-mails that would invariably ensue if I left them out. LOL

Trust me, it all works out in the end… so to speak… *heh*

http://www.deppimpact.com/privateresort/pr_caps/pr_caps.html

News Briefs

- Sky.com has a relatively pointless entry today about “Beautiful, Beautiful Men”, but they include Johnny Depp at the top of that list. LOL

- Businesswire.com reports Fox is set to release From Hell in Blu-ray format in time for holiday sales this year. “Presented as a dual-layer (50gb) BD release authored in BD-J with AVC (MPEG 4 compression) and DTS HD Lossless Master Audio, the BD release of FROM HELL boasts commentary by directors Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes, Screenwriter Rafael Yglesias, Cinematographer Peter Deming and Robbie Coltrane, a special trivia pop-up feature and 21 deleted scenes with optional commentary by Albert Hughes.”

- The Daily Record reports Johnny Depp came in second to Cary Grant in a poll for Smoothest Celebrity of All Time.

- And in other poll-related news, AskMen.com places Johnny at #7 in their poll of Top49 Men. George Clooney took the top spot in this one, in which voters were asked to pick “the best representatives of the male gender”.

- Austin360.com has an interview with Danny Trejo who appeared in Once Upon a Time In Mexico with Johnny. “Out of nowhere [Robert Rodriguez] came up with that line in ‘Once Upon a Time in Mexico’,” he said. “Johnny Depp says to me, “Are you a Mexi-can or a Mexi-can’t?” It wasn’t scripted. We were ready to go and he says, “No, wait, wait. Here, Johnny, say this.” Johnny read the line and said, “Danny, this is going to make us famous!” The line has become unreal. Every time I walk down the street, I get it from someone.”

- LaughingPlace.com offers a report about spotting the Black Pearl during filming of Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

- Chattanoogan.com reports Deep Sea 3D, the IMAX nature documentary narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, “was awarded the top honor in the Large Format category at the Panda Awards, the world’s most prestigious awards for films about the natural world. The event is part of the International Wildscreen Film Festival in Bristol, UK.”

Screencaps for 'The Libertine'

I’ve finally finished the screencaps for The Libertine and uploaded them into the gallery. You can find them here:

Screencaps:
http://www.deppimpact.com/libertine/lib_caps/lib_caps.html

Publicity Photos, Deleted Scenes, Special Features:
http://www.deppimpact.com/libertine/libertine_pub/libertine_pub.html

For those of you who have seen this film, what did you think of it? PLEASE NOTE: Comments may contain spoilers!

News Briefs

- DigitalSpy reports Marilyn Manson will write, direct and star in Phantasmagoria - The Visions of Lewis Carroll, a biopic about the "Alice in Wonderland" author. According to the report, “Manson has threatened to rope Johnny Depp into the project.”

- Sondheim.org reports Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and other cast members for the upcoming Sweeney Todd film will head for the recording studio next month to start laying down tracks for the film.

What Might Have Been

Here’s a question for you: Have you ever watched a movie and pictured Johnny Depp in a certain role?

For me, it would have to be Big Fish. Maybe it’s the Tim Burton connection, I don’t know, and it’s certainly no slam on Ewan McGregor because I thought he was wonderful in that film. But there were more than a few times I wondered what it would have been like with Johnny in the lead role.

So, what about you? Have you ever watched a movie and wondered how Johnny would have done it?

News & Random Stuff

I think I like this interactive blog idea. It’s fun getting responses from people who may not usually speak up on other forums.

Whether or not Johnny will shave his head for Sweeney Todd might seem like a silly question, since obviously he’ll do whatever he thinks is right for his interpretation of the character. But you guys came up with some really intelligent and thought-provoking answers. It makes for an interesting read, if nothing else.

Now I’ll have to think of some other questions to ask. LOL! I’ll work on that.

In the meantime, here’s some news:

- Scotsman.com has an article about Carcassonne, a medieval walled citadel in southwest France. The article mentions celebrities who have stayed in its luxury hotel, including Johnny Depp, Rudyard Kipling, Walt Disney and Ken Loach.

- SeacoastOnline is one of many sites with articles about the popularity of pirate costumes for Halloween thanks to Johnny and Pirates of the Caribbean.

- STV reports celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz has a display of her photos at the Brooklyn Museum in New York through January. The collection includes an intimate photo of Johnny and Kate Moss from their days together. Following its stay in New York, the exhibit is expected to tour other venues in the United States before moving to Britain next year. A discussion of this photo has been going on over at the message board if you want to check it out.

- Philly.com reports Hugh Jackman (The Prestige) uses a trick from Johnny Depp when struggling with accents on film: “I do accents fairly well, but for films that’s not good enough,” he said. “I learned a Johnny Depp trick, which he didn’t teach me, I heard it from one of the crew. He learns a sentence which involves every consonant and every vowel. It drives the sound guys crazy, but I’ll often say it before a scene or beginning of the day or after lunch because I don’t stay in it all day: “How many times did you ask Sam whether or not his daughter’s learning disorder was caused by a genetic abnormality?” I say it before a scene, then I forget about it.”

- BuffaloNews.com reports footage of Horseshoe Falls (Niagara) is being filmed for Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Thanks to Longtime Deppfan for the link!

Hair or No Hair?

With Johnny Depp’s turn as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street just around the corner, it raises a question: Will Johnny shave his head for the role?

Sweeney Todd is sometimes portrayed as a bald man…

Then again, he’s also portrayed with hair…

I know my preference, but I want to hear yours. How would you like to see Johnny’s incarnation — with or without hair?

News Briefs & Site Updates

In case you haven’t seen it yet, I’ve updated many of the photo galleries on the main site and added a new gallery for “Recent Additions”. These aren’t necessarily all new photos, just ones I’ve recently added to the collection.

And now, on to the news –

- Variety.com reports Helena Bonham Carter is confirmed for the role of Mrs. Lovett in the upcoming Sweeney Todd film. Thanks to Guy for the link!

- InsideBayArea.com has an interview with David Capagna, a stunt man who often doubles for Christopher Walken. Capagna says his favorite actor to work with is Johnny Depp, whom he met on the set of Nick of Time. “He’s a wonderful actor, tops in my book,” he said. “I’ll never forget how he did a stunt where he jumped off of a six-story building three times — with nothing but a little cable attached.”

- KSBY.com reports Johnny Depp and crew are under heavy guard as they film the third Pirates of the Caribbean film in the Guadalupe Dunes this week. Thanks to Jade for the link!

News Briefs

I’ve decided to host the site blog myself instead of on a third-party site to make it easier for commenting without having to register. If you have any problems with the new format, let me know.

- FemaleFirst reports George Clooney appreciates Johnny as a fellow actor: “Johnny just keeps doing really good stuff,” he says. “He’s a really, really smart and good actor… I’ve written letters to him just so say, ‘Hey, man, you’re flaming great’.”

- Mtv.com has an interview with director Terry Gilliam in which he discusses Johnny Depp’s involvement in the possible rebirth of “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”: “Well, I’m not sure if I want to work with [Johnny Depp] — he’s just too big a star now. I’d rather work with a young unknown. [Laughs] No, that will be the first phone call I make when I get the script back in my hands … then, when he’s free, we go because he’s on board.”

2006 Costume Parade

It’s that time again! If you or someone you know is dressing as a Johnny Depp character for Halloween this year, please send me a photo and brief description of the costume, and you can be included in the 2006 Costume Parade.

Take a picture and submit it by e-mail or upload it to your photobucket account and send me a link. Photos will be accepted until Nov. 5. Submissions can include Johnny’s characters or other characters associated with his films. Please include your name (or screen name) and a brief description of the costume.

Please send entries to leogirl_34@yahoo.com. The link for this year’s parade is www.deppimpact.com/costume06.html. Be sure to check back as entries start coming in.

Thanks!

News Briefs

- Chortle.co.uk reports Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen is in talks to appear as Signor Adolfo Pirelli in Tim Burton’s upcoming Sweeney Todd movie.

- CBS5.com reports on Jessica Simpson’s embarrassing confession: “I made a fool out of myself in front of Johnny Depp,” she said. “Dane Cook and I hosted the Teen Choice Awards and Johnny Depp made this surprise appearance and I was struck. I said all the wrong things and I ended up saying, ‘Okay, I’m gonna shut up now and walk away.’ I said it right to his face and it was so embarrassing.”

- The Melbourne Herald has an interview with Geoffrey Rush (Captain Barbossa), in which he discusses the third movie and Keith Richards’ cameo:

Rush is speaking from Los Angeles, where he is putting the finishing touches on the third and final instalment of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

“Actually, finishing touches is a bit of an understatement,” he laughs. “We’re sort of filming the grand finale of the great trilogy where 12 plots all converge on one massive, almost mythological, action sequence. It’s quite extraordinary and bigger than Ben-Hur.

“The scene we’re shooting is a global pirate summit, and I can’t say much because (producer) Jerry Bruckheimer might kill me.”

The production, called At World’s End, made the news recently, thanks to claims Rolling Stone Keith Richards, shooting a cameo as Jack Sparrow’s father, was drunk on the set.

Rush is of no help one way or the other in laying the story to rest.

“I think with Keith you get such an excitable persona you’re not quite sure where he’s at,” Rush says.

“The man I met on set was a very playful, excitable kid . . . this completely eccentric character turns up and plays by totally different rules to the slightly more manicured actors who turn up, so that was very, very thrilling.”

Johnny Depp, who famously modelled the Jack Sparrow character after Richards, knew who was boss, Rush says.

“He’s the only person in the whole trilogy of films who can put Jack Sparrow in his place, and anyone who can put Johnny Depp in his place is a pretty cool guy.”

Though the first Pirates movie was a hit with critics and audiences, the second, Dead Man’s Chest, was notable for the fact the reviews were so bad — and the box office so utterly, utterly enormous.

“There was something in the audience saying, ‘Whatever is going on, we want to acknowledge our love of Jack Sparrow and the pirate world’,” Rush says.

“And other films became runaway hits despite what any critics think. Critics hated Citizen Kane when it came out.”

- TMZ.com reports Johnny Depp is a fan of Uncle Kimono, a clothing line designed by fellow actor John Malkovich. A portion of sales from Malkovich’s clothing line benefits the performing arts and a selected group of playhouses across the world.

Site & Rumors

First of all, I want to let everyone know the Depp Impact site is back online. w00t! It took about 15 hours to get it all sorted out, but I guess I finally yelled loudly enough to the right tech support person, and it miraculously reappeared. Sorry if it freaked anyone out (which it apparently did based on the many frantic e-mails I received…) It didn’t do much for my blood pressure, either, believe me. LOL

Next, I feel the unfortunate need to clear up a misconception. There are NO “secret rooms” or “hidden forums” or “private back doors” for Depp Impact. The following is a list of forums affiliated with the site. If it’s not listed here, it has nothing to do with me or Depp Impact:

Depp Impact Message Board:
http://deppimpact.suddenlaunch3.com/

Fan Fiction Board:
http://difanfics.suddenlaunch3.com/

Depp_Impact Yahoogroup:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Depp_Impact

Depp Fans Over 30 Yahoogroup:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/deppfansover30club

Depp Impact Blog:
http://www.deppimpact.com/news/news.html

And finally, I received an e-mail from the Disney publicity people about the rumors that Will Turner’s character will be killed off in future POTC films. They confirm the story is just a rumor and should not be taken seriously.

“Good afternoon –

As some of you may have seen, there have been some rumors going around online regarding potential absence of Orlando Bloom in the future Pirates of the Caribbean films. We are working closely with Disney and want you to know that while we cannot comment on specific plot points, such rumors are completely unfounded.

Please let me know if you have any questions.”

Site Problems

Just a quick note to apologize for the site problems I’m having right now with www.deppimpact.com. For some reason, there’s a glitch with the domain that was supposed to renew two weeks ago and apparently never did. Gah.

They’re sorting it out now, but it may take a little while longer to get the site back online. Thanks for your patience.

News Briefs

- PR Newswire offers an article and video clip of Johnny Depp receiving the “Courage to Care” award from Los Angeles Children’s Hospital Saturday night (Oct. 7). Johnny’s acceptance speech begins about halfway through the video. Jennifer Lopez presented the award. “His commitment to children really sets him apart,” she said. “Johnny’s kindness and generosity behind the scenes making children a priority are why he is one of tonight’s award recipients. His films are aspirational for children all over the world. Johnny Depp is a role model for all of us.”

- Rumors are still flying that Johnny and Vanessa are going to be married next summer. My response to the rumors when they started is posted here, but obviously the tabloids don’t listen to me. Honestly, though, it seems they’re just rehashing a quote he made in an article in FilmInk magazine in September of 2003: I consider Vanessa and I already married. We just haven’t gone through the formalities, signing papers and all that, but to me and to her, we’re husband and wife. However, when the kids are old enough, we’d like to have a three-day gypsy wedding. If it happens, wonderful! I just wouldn’t expect them to make a public announcement beforehand.

- Rumors are also flying that Will Turner’s character may be killed off in the 4th installment of Pirates of the Caribbean. I wouldn’t get too worked up about this one, either, since POTC screenwriter Terry Rossio says it’s pure speculation and no one has even agreed to make a 4th movie yet, much less knows what would happen in it.

- Cinematical.com reports director Terry Gilliam is hoping to bring “Good Omens” by Terry Pratchett to the screen in the near future. He originally wanted Johnny Depp and Robin Williams for the leading roles but couldn’t get the money together to make the film. There’s no real word yet if he’s hoping for the same cast if he can find the financing this time.

- PR Newswire reports Johnny Depp and POTC2 have been honored with Spike TV SCREAM Awards aired Oct. 10. Dead Man’s Chest took four awards, including Most Anticipated Movie, Best Fantasy Movie, Best Sequel, and Best F/X. Johnny Depp received the award for Most Heroic Performance.

- IGN Filmforce reports Terry Gilliam is also in the final stages of getting back the rights to “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”, the ill-fated production on which the documentary Lost in La Mancha was based. According to Gilliam, Johnny Depp is on board for the project if it does finally come together.