Warner Bros. has got their upcoming project, Shantaram, back on track with Mira Nair coming aboard to direct. The film starring Johnny Depp hit an extended delay when director Peter Weir dropped out last summer.
Mira Nair, Johnny Depp for Shantaram
Shantaram could be back on Depp's next-to-do list. Currently in production with Sweeney Todd, Depp would immediately jump over to the project if Warner Bros is able stick to their planned production date.
Nair will direct from a script by Eric Roth, who is adapting Gregory David Roberts' tome of the same name.
Shantaram tells the story of an Australian heroin addict who escapes from a maximum-security prison and reinvents himself as a doctor treating the destitute in the slums of Bombay. His drive to procure medicine leads him into counterfeiting, gun-running and smuggling.
Mira Nair has tons of experience with her native India, including her debut feature Salaam Bombay and Monsoon Wedding. The director's last theatrical release was Vanity Fair starring Reese Witherspoon.
Graham King's Initial Entertainment Group will produce Shantaram along with Depp's Infinitum Nihil.
If Warner Bros keeps to schedule, the film will enter production this fall with a possible 2008 release.
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