Depp and his Infinitum Nihil producing partner Christi Dembrowski brought the project to Disney last summer as a potential starring vehicle for the actor who has proven so profitable for Disney as Captain Jack Sparrow.  It's just one of two potential films Depp set up at the House of Mickey, the other a period film focusing on Paul Revere.

Now, according to Deadline, Wright is committing to direct the film and will "shape the project with Depp and Dembrowski from the ground floor."  Since the director co-wrote all three of his past theatrical endeavors, it's not unreasonable to expect that he might team up with a screenwriting partner to craft the script, but no such writer has yet been hired.

The Night Stalker will be a theatrical update of the 1972 TV movie based on the novel by I Am Legend writer Richard Matheson.  That telefilm and Kolchak: The Night Stalker, the 1974 television series that followed, both starred Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, a tabloid crime reporter with a nose for stumbled into supernatural phenomena that included vampires, werewolves, zombies, and the like.  The material will be suited to Disney's family friendly style and is virtually guaranteed to be rated PG-13.

Depp is currently shooting The Lone Ranger for the studio and Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski.  He's also developing a remake of The Thin Man at Warner Bros. with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides helmer Rob Marshall.

Wright's next directorial endeavor, meanwhile, remains a mystery.  From the sound of it, The Night Stalker is still very early in development and as such, is quite a ways out.  The director long ago signed on to direct an Ant-Man feature for Marvel Studios.  He and Attack the Block helmer Joe Cornish wrote the screenplay for that one, but Marvel's post-The Avengers plans are unknown at the moment.  Wright has also begun work on his next collaboration with Simon Pegg, the much-anticipated spiritual successor to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.