More Changes Bring Depp, Cuaron to ‘The Tourist’

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on November 5, 2009

Production on The Tourist is set to begin early next year.

The players within that production seems to be changing daily. Three weeks ago, Charlize Theron departed the project and moved on to greener pastures, allowing Angelina Jolie to step into her place. Even further back, Tom Cruise was set to play the lead role in the film — an everyman who is roped in by an Interpol agent to become bait for a former lover — but had since been replaced by Sam Worthington. Heck, even director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck was a replacement for Bharat Nalluri, who was attached with Cruise.

Today, we get to throw most (but not all) of that out the window, as several other changes have been made. According to THR, von Donnersmarck and Sam Worthington are out, and two major players are in. In negotiations to star alongside Angelina Jolie is Johnny Depp, who will replace Worthington. In talks to direct them is Children of Men helmer Alfonso Cuaron.

Sure, this makes for an absurd amount of changes to this film, with Graham King’s GK films now playing a game of Hollywood Square pegs in round holes. But this isn’t anything new. Did you know that Tom Selleck was in line to play Indiana Jones, but pulled out to star in Magnum P.I.? This happens all the time. And in this case, (with respect to von Donnersmarck and Worthington) the production is getting an upgrade. Cuaron is a very talented director, and Depp might just be the best actor working today. It’s not as if this project needed help — it started with Tom Cruise and Charlize Theron. It is now just as interesting, and hopefully it won’t change again.

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