DEPP, VERBINSKI TEAM FOR ANIMATED 'RANGO' (VAR)

By Nancy Tartaglione-Vialatte

Johnny Depp and his “Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski are teaming for “Rango,” an animated film set for a March 2011 release. Variety reports that Depp will voice the lead character, a household pet who goes on an adventure to discover himself.

Paramount will finance and distribute. Depp is slated to start work in January.

“The Aviator’s” John Logan wrote the script from an original idea of Verbinski’s.

Verbinski will work with Industrial Light & Magic on the animation.

"Rango" will be produced by Verbinski’s Blind Wink Prods., Graham King and John Carls. Paramount-based Nickelodeon Films is expected to be involved as well, says Variety.

“Rango” marks Paramount’s most ambitious star-driven entry into animation.

Verbinski will direct "Rango" while also continuing to develop an adaptation of the bestselling Take-Two video game "Bioshock" for Universal. That film is also being penned by Logan.

"Rango" aims to use cutting-edge animation techniques that "will allow us to capture and translate every aspect of Johnny’s performance, using it to drive the computer-generated character in a way that has yet to be seen in an animated feature," Verbinski told Variety.