Posted by Jeppody on /12/06 at 02:51 AM

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http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=18968

12 June 2006


Weir Walks
Helmer leaves Shantaram
Source: Variety

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Peter Weir has pulled the eject lever on his next film and left Warner Brothers’ Shantaram.

The studio is now searching for a director to take over the project, which adapts Gregory David Roberts’ novel and will star Johnny Depp as a heroin addict who escapes from the slammer and re-invents himself as a doctor in the Indian slums. He eventually becomes a counterfeiter and gunrunner who clashes with invading Russian troops in Afghanistan.

There’s some disagreement about what prompted Weir to ditch the film. Some said it was because Depp – who’s producing – and Weir couldn’t agree on the film’s direction. But a Warner Brothers spokesrobot told a different tale to Variety: "Peter moved on from this film because his interpretation of it differed greatly than that of the studio and producers.”

This comes hot on the heels of Eric Roth delivering the latest draft of the script to the studio.