Johnny Depp will play the lead role in Barry Levinson’s James "Whitey" Balger, the former leader of the Irish Mafia in Boston. Filming is scheduled to begin in May.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that the film is based on a book written by Boston reporters Dick Leer and Gerard O'Neill, and will be called The Black Mass.
Balger, as head of Winter Hill, an Irish crime syndicate, was recruited into the FBI by John Connolly in 1975. However, suspecting Balger of involvement in numerous murders, in the 90s the FBI began to prepare for the capture of the mafia. With the help of Connolly, with whom he had friendly relations, he managed to escape, and until 2011 his whereabouts were not known. At the time of the capture of the former leader of the Boston gangsters was 82 years old.
This will not be the first picture dedicated to the biography of the Boston mafia. In 2006, the film "The Departed" with Jack Nicholson in the role of Frank Costello, the prototype of which was Balger. Currently, the production of another film about Balger engaged Ben Affleck. In this film, the role of the famous mafia will perform Matt Damon.
Late last year, Barry Levinson’s gulf horror movie premiered. But the director was best known for the film Rain Man (1988), which won four Oscars in 1989.
