‘City of Lies’ Removed from Schedule Due to Johnny Depp Controversy
Originally set to release a month from today, this upcoming film about the investigation of the murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. has now been pulled from the screening schedule in the wake of a lawsuit between Depp and the film’s location manager.
Johnny Depp has seen some backlash from fans lately, much of which coming from accusations of domestic abuse from former partner Amber Heard, though the two have since issued a joint statement claiming that “there was never any intent of physical or emotional harm”. However, he’s still controversially managed to get cast in some big roles lately, including the villainous Gellert Grindewald in the Fantastic Beasts series.
In the case of City of Lies, though, Depp’s alleged actions seem like they may have some consequence on the actor’s career. Depp was sued last month for allegedly hitting one of the film’s location managers, and now Variety reports that a spokesperson for City of Lies has claimed that the film has been pulled from its release schedule.
Currently, City of Lies has no publicly set release date, but that certainly doesn’t mean that it won’t get one in the future. There’s always that possibility that his part in the film could be recast, much like how Kevin Spacey was replaced by Christopher Plummer in Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World last year, but complete overhauls like that are rare.
City of Lies is based on Randall Sullivan’s novel LAbyrinth. Depp’s role, Russel Poole, is a retired LAPD officer looking into the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac. Forest Whitaker, Rockmond Dunbar, and Neil Brown Jr. also star, and it is being directed by Brad Furman. Originally set to be distributed by Global Road Entertainment and released on September 7 2018, the film currently does not have a release date.
