According to Deadline, "Affleck and Damon were given a day or two advance notice that the studio was putting its eggs in the Black Mass basket, but that news came just a day before the latest draft of Terence Winter’s script came in. Naturally there are bruised feelings that Warners will have to repair with two of its most valuable players, as this was the first project pitched for Affleck to direct and Damon to star after Pearl Street inked its overall deal there, and I’m told the studio assured the pair it wanted to make their movie."Scott Cooper (Out of the Furnace) will re-write and direct Black Mass with production expected to commence in May. Deadline says that Joel Edgerton is back in the mix to play corrupt FBI agent John Connolly, who handled gangster-informant Bulger, a role that Tom Hardy had just recently been up for. Edgerton was previously attached to play Connolly when Barry Levinson was going to direct Black Mass, but that version fell apart over a salary dispute with Depp.
As it just so happens, yours truly spoke with Scott Cooper over the phone earlier this week for the Blu-ray release of Out of the Furnace, during which time I asked him about Black Mass. Here's what he had to say.
IGN: I'm from Boston, and Whitey Bulger was kind of a mythical figure back home and of course all of that has been stripped away over the years. Can you tell me a little bit about what drew you to Black Mass and how you plan on depicting somebody like Bulger?
Scott Cooper: Well, I was drawn to that story because I recalled very explicitly when he first went on the lam and thinking about this man and what he would ultimately be doing after he left Boston. But I'm drawn to the fact that there's this kind of unholy alliance between the most notorious crime figure in Boston history -- or one of them, certainly -- his politician brother and their childhood friend, a kid from the neighborhood, who essentially gave him a license to kill; and in the largest scandal of FBI history; and the notion, the themes, of loyalty and manipulation, this kind of culture of silence and death -- all of these things that sound as though they're fiction, but we know that truth is stranger than fiction -- and the fact that Whitey Bulger was ultimately captured maybe a mile from where I'm now standing, where I live. So all of those things have drawn me into his very enigmatic world, because this is a man who was also a pet lover, who suffered a great deal when he lost his son, was a devoted son to his mother and loved his brother dearly. So I want to see a very full-bodied portrait of Whitey Bulger, who was sociopathic but also humanistic -- but not too glamorized in any way.
IGN: I also want to ask about the casting of Johnny Depp in that role. It's interesting because, frankly, we don't really associate Johnny because of his screen persona with somebody who's scary.
Cooper: Which is exactly what interests me, because if you look at the way he was portrayed by Jack Nicholson [in The Departed] -- or if Jack ultimately based his character on Whitey or somebody kind of mythical like that -- what I want to see is a man who is very composed, very quiet, who mixes patience with brutality, almost like a cobra: he's very quiet until he strikes. I don't want to see somebody who's gonna come seething and maniacal. I just portrayed that in Out of the Furnace in a sense with Harlan DeGroat, but I want to see someone who is taciturn and is also extraordinarily bright, because you can't stay on top that long, and someone who studied military history to help maintain his power, but who's also very, very cunning. I think those will play to Johnny's strengths. You always want to see an actor give a performance that they've never given, especially someone like Johnny who's a beloved actor, to see Johnny in instances that you haven't quite seen him in films. He's a genius. He's one of the best actors on Earth. I think he's going to give a riveting performance.
IGN: Have you cast anyone yet beyond Johnny Depp and Tom Hardy [Note: Interview was conducted before the latest news about Edgerton]?
Cooper: I have not, no. I'm just in the process now of really getting into the script and casting. I'm really looking forward to telling a story about humans who happen to be criminals, as opposed to criminals who happen to be humans. IGN: Well, let me be a casting nerd here and suggest -- since you've gotta get somebody that probably looks like he could be his brother -- how about Billy Crudup for Whitey's brother Billy Bulger?
Cooper: I know, right?
IGN: And then Martin Freeman maybe as John Morris, the other story's other corrupt FBI agent.
Cooper: I know. Really both wonderful actors, and I have considered them both. There's such a plethora of great actors who really yearn for great characters.
IGN: Are you planning on shooting in Boston, because again the sense of place in your films is so strong that I'm not sure if actually filming on location there is something that's in the cards or not for you.
Cooper: I would only shoot on location -- anywhere I shoot any film. Yes, I will be in Boston.