"Pirates of the Caribbean" star Johnny Depp is set to star in Notorious B.I.G.-Tupac thriller "Labyrinth." "Lincoln Lawyer" director Brad Furman is also on board to helm the project.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Depp is once again taking on a true-life figure who is opposite side of the law. He had played as a gangster Whitey Bulger in last year's "Black Mass" with some of his strongest reviews in years. Now, he wants to play the Los Angeles police detective Russell Poole. Poole investigated the murders of rappers Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.
In the "Labyrinth," Poole was a decorated detective who spent months investigating the murder of B.I.G., real name Christopher Wallace. He eventually believed that a group of gangsta cops in his own force were not only involved but were also tied to Death Row Records and the Bloods street gang. The result was confrontations with the LAPD police chief and culminated with Poole going into early retirement in protest.
Furman is also attached to direct the "Labyrinth," as Variety reported. He is from Good Films that is behind Bryan Cranston crime drama "The Infiltrator," starring Bryan Cranston as Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.
"Labyrinth" is based on the book "Labyrinth: A Detective Investigates the Murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., the Implication of Death Row Records' Suge Knight, and the Origins of the Los Angeles Police Scandal." Christian Contreras wrote the screenplay.
UTA and WME Global are co-repping U.S. rights for the "Labyrinth." Good Universe is representing the international sales. Good Films will produce.
Depp has endured a difficult summer inside and outside the theater, with his ongoing and very public divorce to Amber Heard. He was most recently starred in one of the summer's biggest bombs "Alice Through the Looking Glass." He is expected to be seen next in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales." He is represented by UTA.
Watch the video of Johnny Depp investigating the unsolved murders of Biggie and Pac in a new movie "Labyrinth":