Well that was fast. Looks like the rumors were true. Johnny Depp has joined Wes Anderson's new film. Not only that, the project — which will be the director's eighth feature-length effort — has a title, "The Grand Budapest Hotel," which sounds Anderson-like enough (see "The Darjeeling Limited").
No plot details aside from the small scraps we know — it's Euro based movie (presumably in Hungary), it will reunite him with Owen Wilson and one character will be a personal medium — but Scott Rudin is producing along with Indian Paintbrush who handled "Moonrise Kingdom." Speaking of which 'Moonrise' has grossed $32 million domestically and $44 million worldwide making it Anderson's second highest grossing film to date ("The Royal Tenenbaums" still holds that crown domestically and internationally).
To be written and directed by Anderson, other actors that the filmmaker is allegedly pursuing for "The Grand Budapest Hotel" include Jude Law and Angela Lansbury as well as previous collaborators Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody and Willem Dafoe. None are as yet confirmed. This will mark the first collaboration between Depp and Anderson and since it's not another Tim Burton collabo (sorry, but we're all for variety) we'll imagine it's a step in the right direction.
Deadline says this is probably Depp's next film, which hopefully means we won't have to wait too long for another Wes Anderson film. Showbiz411 also reports that a recent casting sheet is looking for a “young Arab/Middle Eastern male aged 16-21 who is intelligent, charming, and lively. No Experience needed.”
