Hollywood battle over Whitey Bulger story
Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed was based on the Boston mobster
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.After his Best Director win at last week's Baftas, all eyes are on what Ben Affleck's next project will be.
And the answer is probably his long-mooted take on the Boston crime lord Whitey Bulger, with a script from Boardwalk Empire's Terence Winter and old friend Matt Damon in the lead role.
Affleck isn't alone, however, in his desire to tackle Bulger. Martin Scorsese based Jack Nicholson's character in 2006's The Departed on the mobster, who at that time was still on the run and on the FBI's most-wanted list – and there are three other takes on his life rumoured to be in the works.
Peter Facinelli, late of the Twilight movies, has announced that he will produce an adaptation of the true-crime memoir Street Soldier: My Life As An Enforcer for Whitey Bulger, while Mark Wahlberg was reported to be keen enough to consider meeting the former mob boss in jail for a possible adaptation of a book called Rat Bastards.
Both those proposals were, however, overshadowed this month with the news that Johnny Depp will take the lead in Barry Levinson's Black Mass, an adaptation of a bestselling book about Bulger.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments