Edgar Wright to Direct Johnny Depp in Neil Gaiman Adaptation ‘Fortunately, the Milk’

Early trailers and buzz for Black Mass indicated that the gangster drama would mark a much-needed return to form for Johnny Depp; unfortunately, as some rightfully assumed, that wasn’t quite so. But if anyone can get the best out of Depp, it might be Edgar Wright, who is teaming up with the actor for Fortunately, the Milk, an adaptation of a children’s book by Neil Gaiman.

THR reports that Fox is nearing a deal for Wright to direct the film based on Gaiman’s illustrated children’s book, with Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie writing the screenplay. Johnny Depp will star in and produce the feature, which is still in the early negotiations phase. Wright is currently at work on his next feature film, Baby Driver, starring Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm.

Fortunately, the Milk was written by Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young, and is described by Amazon as follows:

“I bought the milk,” said my father. “I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: t h u m m t h u m m. I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road.”

 

“Hullo,” I said to myself. “That’s not something you see every day. And then something odd happened.”

 

Find out just how odd things get in this hilarious New York Times bestselling story of time travel and breakfast cereal, expertly told by Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young.

McKenzie and Wright working on a Gaiman adaptation is exciting, but given Depp’s decline in recent years we’re hoping the duo can get a genuinely great performance out of the actor. Depp is something of a curiosity: a character actor who somehow became a leading man, yet still plays the very specific, eccentric parts identified with character actors who would typically have secondary parts in other films. This year Depp starred in the mediocre Mortdecai followed by the tepid Black Mass, and while his performance in the latter was good, it wasn’t enough to solidify that whole comeback narrative.

It may still be a while yet before Fortunately, the Milk comes together as Wright is heading into production on Baby Driver, which is set to hit theaters in 2017. He’s also previously been linked to an adaptation of the YA novel Grasshopper Jungle.