Latest in Black Mass

Nicolas Cage helped Johnny Depp get his first film role in what turned out to be Wes Craven’s original Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984. For many actors, being in a horror classic would be the highlight of their career. For Depp, it was just the beginning. The actor has made nearly 100 films since then, including What’s…

EXCLUSIVE: A day after 89-year old iconic South Boston mob boss James (Whitey) Bulger was beaten to death — his face reportedly pummeled beyond recognition by prisoners with mob ties and a grudge — in a West Virginia prison, I asked Scott Cooper how he would script Bulger’s headstone. While several major movies and TV…

UPDATED with details of death: James “Whitey” Bulger, the one-time leader of the South Boston mob who became a controversial FBI informant and was played by Johnny Depp in Scott Cooper’s 2015 film Black Mass, was beaten to death this morning by fellow inmates in a high-security West Virginia federal prison. He was…

The Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards have been announced in 23 categories covering motion pictures, TV, commercials and live theater. Winners will be revealed February 20 at Paramount Studios. That’s where make-up artist Ve Neill and hair stylist Yolanda Toussieng will receive Lifetime Achievement…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has touched up its shortlist for the 2015 Best Makeup & Hairstyling Oscar. Seven films are in the chair including two that made A-list actors all but unrecognizable. The nominees are Black Mass, Concussion, Legend, Mad Max: Fury Road, Mr. Holmes, The 100-Year-Old Man Who…

Notorious Boston gangster Whitey Bulger came to Deadline’s big awards-season event, The Contenders Presented By Deadline, which took place last month at the DGA Theatre before a sold-out crowd of AMPAS and key guild members. OK, Bulger didn’t appear in person. He’s in prison. But some very key filmmakers who have…

EXCLUSIVE: Squarely in the Oscar discussion for Black Mass, writer-director Scott Cooper is making a deal to rewrite and direct White Knight, a film that gives Warner Bros a potential series in the Bourne Identity/James Bond mold. John Lesher and Mark Williams are producing. Cooper will rewrite a script by Bill…

A new weekly column talking up the season with bits and pieces from the awards circuit. Johnny Depp literally was surrounded by AMPAS members — and others — trying to take selfies with him at Thursday’s packed (and I mean packed) luncheon at Craig’s in honor of his Whitey Bulger film, Black Mass. I have been to…

At the center of Black Mass is Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, whose criminal empire was made possible thanks to his relationship with disgraced FBI agent John Connelly. Having grown up in the same south Boston neighborhood, Connelly recruited Bulger as a federal informant and ended up instead feeding him…

The Palm Springs Film Festival will present Johnny Depp with the annual Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor for his role as Whitey Bulger in Warner Bros’ Black Mass. The honor will be presented at the fest’s awards gala January 2 alongside actress Desert Palm recipient Cate Blanchett, who stars in both Carol and Truth…

EXCLUSIVE: After co-financing/producing taste maker films including Black Mass, Everest, Rush, The Ides of March, and Black Swan, Cross Creek Pictures is ready to take that next step up. Cross Creek principals Timmy Thompson and Brian Oliver and Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group chairman Tom Rothman…

Johnny Depp has been named the recipient of the Santa Barbara Film Festival Modern Master Award for this year’s edition, which runs February 3-13. The fest always nails this gala ceremony to bestow its highest honor, with recent honorees including Michael Keaton last year (ahead of his Birdman success), Bruce Dern (Neb…