Johnny Depp to Play Boston Gangster Whitey Bulger

Johnny Depp is often criticized for choosing to play variations of the same character over and over again, but his latest project is bound to silence those critics: he has just signed on for “Black Mass,” the story of Boston kingpin Whitey Bulger.

Depp will be playing Bulger, while Barry Levinson will direct, Deadline confirms.

“The picture is a co-production between Cross Creek and Nigel Sinclair and Guy East’s Exclusive Media, with the two entities co-financing. Universal Pictures is aboard to release the film in the U.S. through Cross Creek’s distribution deal with the studio, and production is to begin in May,” the industry publication reports.

The script by Mark Mallouk is based on the 2001 bestseller “Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob&rdqu o; by Dick Lehr / Gerald O’Neill.

The film is believed to focus on Bulger’s illegal activities, including his “collaboration” with the FBI, but also on the years he spent fleeing justice, before he was apprehended.