Carter Beats the Devil, WB hopes Johnny Depp will help

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

In the years since Glen David Gold’s book hit bestseller status, a movie adaptation of CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL has been locked in a vault without a handy escape hatch.

Now Warner Bros. is finally pushing the illusionist’s tale into the spotlight, and the studio wants A-lister Johnny Depp to work his magic for them.

While it’s little more than a wish at this point, it does seem like the sort of mischievous material that attracts the actor. And the project is certainly no stranger to such celebrity — earlier in the decade, Tom Cruise held the rights and had CHINATOWN screenwriter Robert Towne adapting.

Set in 1923 San Francisco, the acclaimed thriller follows magician “Carter the Great”, who uses President Warren G. Harding as a volunteer in his act. When Harding mysteriously croaks a few hours later, investigators believe Harding shared a secret with him, but the magician is nowhere to be found. Carter soon finds himself contending with the FBI and an old nemesis.

Depp still has DARK SHADOWS and THE LONE RANGER to complete, and has a remake of THE THIN MAN and several other producing projects on his plate, so he may not even be able to clear his schedule for such legerdemain.