Reports have been circulating for several months that Johnny Depp's production company, Infinitum Nihil, has secured the rights to "Sasha's Story: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy", a book in the works by Alan Cowell about Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian spy who died of poisoning last year. The project would be in competition with a film from director Michael Mann based on "Death of a Dissident", a book co-written Litvinenko's widow, Marina.

Recently, rumors surfaced that the two projects would be combined and that Johnny Depp would star in the Mann version of the film. But according to a report from IGN, this rumor is unfounded:

IGN contacted Depp's production company, Infinitum Nihil, which advised us that the Guardian report is inaccurate. We were told that Depp will not star in the Mann version and, although he is not attached to star in anything yet, if he were to make a Litvinenko movie then it would be Sasha's Story. So that settles that.