Johnny Depp’s remake of The Thin Man gets a writer

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Since it now seems unlikely that Johnny Depp will ride alongside the masked hero in THE LONE RANGER, the actor is looking at some of the other projects in his ample pile of possibilities.

Depp wants to get things going on THE THIN MAN, his planned remake of the 1934 Oscar-nominated classic featuring William Powell and Myrna Loy, based on the book by pulp master Dashiell Hammett. 

Deadline says that Depp has recruited high-priced screenwriter/script doctor/director David Koepp (JURASSIC PARK, SPIDER-MAN) to adapt the story of a sharp-tongued, martini-chugging private eye and his gal as they investigate a murder plot involving the slender gentleman of the title.

Koepp also directed Depp in SECRET WINDOW, but POTC: ON STRANGER TIDES director Rob Marshall is handling duties on this one, which isn’t exactly powering through development — the project was announced late last year, and reportedly had novelist/screenwriter Jerry Stahl (PERMANENT MIDNIGHT) working on the script. But Deadline claims nothing was actually written, so Koepp is starting fresh and going back to Hammett’s original story for inspiration.

THE THIN MAN launched five sequels that followed private investigator Nick Charles and his wife Nora (although the characters only appeared in one Hammett book).