Johnny Depp To Play Mobster Whitey Bulger

Johnny Depp will play the notorious gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger in the film Black Mass, which starts shooting in May.

The film recounts the story of the godfather of Boston's underworld, who became an FBI informant to get rid of a gangster rival but was eventually arrested in 2011.

Adapted from a book by two Boston Globe journalists, Black Mass will be directed by Barry Levinson, who won an Oscar for best director in 1988 for Rain Man.

The role is a complete contrast for Pirates Of The Caribbean star Depp, 49, who also plays Tonto in The Lone Ranger, a Disney film scheduled for release in the summer.

The Lone Ranger, played by Armie Hammer, was a legendary masked crime-fighter of the Old West and Tonto his loyal Native American companion.

Bulger, 83, is currently awaiting trial on 19 counts of murder plus charges relating to drug dealing, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy. He denies the charges.

He became an FBI informant in 1975 and in 1994, after apparently being tipped off by his former FBI handler, he went into hiding.

He was on the run until June 2011, when he was arrested without incident at a house in Santa Monica, California.

During his time as a fugitive he featured for more than a decade on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.

Bulger's trial is set to begin this year, although his lawyers have requested a lengthy delay to allow time to review more than 300,000 documents.

One matter yet to be settled is Bulger's claim that he was awarded immunity from prosecution in a deal he struck with former US Attorney Jeremiah O'Sullivan in the 1970s.

Prosecutors said in November that there was no proof the two ever met and described the claim as "frivolous" and "absurd".