The two-minute preview of the film debuted on iTunes, and features Depp (as Bulger) sitting down for a steak dinner that goes from friendly to downright terrifying over the course of a few minutes, propelled by Depp’s uncannily chilling, ice-cold stare. And if this trailer is any indication, we could be seeing award nominations in Depp’s future.
Directed by Out of the Furnace and Crazy Heart filmmaker Scott Cooper, Black Mass chronicles the rise to power of one of the country’s most infamous crime bosses — a man who once occupied a spot right after Osama bin Laden on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list. Bulger led an organized crime operation in South Boston throughout the ’70s before becoming an FBI informant in order to take down an Italian mafia family that threatened his turf. He later famously went on the run when the federal government decided to turn its attention to his own vicious crimes.
Bulger’s cooperation with the FBI — and the subsequent media investigation that exposed the government’s willingness to look the other way as Bulger accumulated power — made him one of the most notorious criminals of the modern era.
Bulger was eventually convicted of 31 counts in August 2013, including racketeering charges and 11 murders, after evading law enforcement for more than 16 years. He’s currently serving two consecutive life terms in prison.
Along with Depp, the film stars Joel Edgerton as FBI agent John Connolly, the man who convinces Bulger to become an informant, and Benedict Cumberbatch as William Bulger, Whitey’s brother, a longtime Massachusetts State Senator and former President of the University of Massachusetts. The star-studded cast also includes Kevin Bacon, Dakota Johnson, Jesse Plemons, Corey Stoll, Rory Cochrane, Sienna Miller, and Adam Scott.
Black Mass hits theaters September 18.
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