Sunday November 05 08:48 PM EST
Depp waxes poetic as Marlowe
By Scott Roxborough
COLOGNE, Germany (The Hollywood Reporter) -- Johnny Depp has signed on to play the title role in Marlowe, the upcoming feature by British production firm Natural Nylon based on the life of 16th century poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe, according to the German firm Advanced Medien, which is co-financing the $20 million project.
Jude Law will also star. Law, together with British actors Ewan McGregor, Jonny Lee Miller, Sean Pertwee and Sadie Frost own and operate Natural Nylon.
Directed by John Maybury (Love Is the Devil), Marlowe is to start production in March in Italy and London. The film focuses on Marlowes relationship with William Shakespeare and is based on the long-argued academic theory that Marlowe wrote some of Shakespeares plays. The project is the first to come under Nylons first-look production and development deal with Canadas Alliance Atlantis.
Depps reps at UTA could not be reached for comment Sunday.
In a separate announcement, Advanced said it will set up a Los Angeles-based subsidiary, Consolidated Film Works, for feature production together with production and FX group United Film Organization. Advanced controls 51% of UFO. Advanced said Consolidated will produce three or four low- to mid-budget features a year, starting with a $6 million romantic comedy tentatively titled Snatched starring Matthew Perry. Production for Snatched is set to start in February in New York.
Also planned is Rapumentary, a biopic on the life of rapper Tupac Shakur. Munich-based Advanced, which is listed on Frankfurts Neuer Markt, has a co-production agreement with director Wolfgang Peterson and co-financing agreements with producer Chuck Gordon and U.K. television group Granada.