Filmmakers Plot Daniel Johnston Biopic, Toy with Roles for Johnny Depp, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly

BY Josiah HughesPublished Mar 18, 2010

When he's not gothin' it up with long-time collaborator Tim Burton, absent-minded heartthrob Johnny Depp has been keeping busy with a plethora of music-related film roles lately. Recently, the actor has been linked to upcoming film projects about Ozzy Osbourne, the Doors and the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards. The latest possible music credit could be as Daniel Johnston's older brother, Dick Johnson.

The role would be part of an upcoming Daniel Johnston biopic helmed by father-and-son filmmaking team David and Jordan Miller. While promoting their new film, My Suicide, in Australia, David Miller revealed that they're hard at work on the pre-production for the Daniel Johnston flick.

Speaking with Pedestrian.TV [via TwentyFourBit], Miller said he would write and produce the film, while My Suicide lead Gabriel Sunday would star as a young Daniel Johnston, as well as direct.

"It's going to be an epic superhero story and it's going to be a narrative biopic, so it doesn't really cover any of the same stuff that the famous Devil And Daniel Johnston documentary that won Sundance in 2005 covers," Miller said.

Miller went on to talk briefly about Depp playing Dick Johnson, and said that actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly have both expressed interest in playing the cult singer-songwriter later in his life.

My Suicide continues to tour the festival circuit, and includes a star-studded soundtrack, with contributions from Radiohead, Devendra Banhart, Bright Eyes, MGMT, My Morning Jacket, TV On the Radio, Rocky Votalato, Animal Collective and the Pixies. More information on that film can be seen here.

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