FilmDistrict has released not one, but two new clips from The Rum Diary, which hits theaters in just one week. The film is an adaptation of the first novel ever written by incendiary Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. Johnny Depp plays Thompson's onscreen surrogate Paul Kemp, a freelance journalist who finds himself working in Puerto Rico during the 1950's. Depp previously played Thompson doppleganger Raoul Duke in Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, in which Duke plentifully tripped balls and tore ass around Vegas and the surrounding desert in a huge boat of a convertible. These two new Rum Diary clips show the seemingly more level-headed Kemp both tripping balls and driving recklessly through Puerto Rico in a considerably cooler convertible. This time, instead of a bloated Benicio del Toro riding shotgun, it's the lovely Amber Heard.
Big thanks to FilmDistrict for sharing both clips.
The Rum Diary is written and directed by Bruce Robinson, who wrote and directed 1987's wonderful Withnail & I. Though he remained fitfully active as a screenwriter through 1998's In Dreams, the last feature he directed was 1992's Jennifer 8. Apparently, Depp courted him to direct Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas back in 1998, but turned it down because he thought the material would be immensely difficult to translate to screen.
Depp's been trying to get this one underway for years, and it finally came together with Robinson and a cast that includes Amber Heard, Aaron Eckhart, Richard Jenkins, Giovanni Ribisi, and Michael Rispoli.
