Johnny Depp hatches plans for Dr. Seuss biopic
He’s already played kid-lit icons Willy Wonka and the Mad Hatter, and kid-lit author J.M. Barrie. Now Johnny Depp is considering a film biography of Dr. Seuss, aka Theodor Seuss Geisel, whose nutty rhyming picture books have been essential reading for millions.
Johnny Depp has acquired the rights to the life story of one Theodor Seuss Geisel, the late New England cartoonist and author who, under the slightly-better-known moniker Dr. Seuss, published a few books you may have heard of. A master of trisyllabic meter, of nonsense names and inspired rhymes, Seuss produced some 60 titles over the course of his 70 years in publishing, selling kabillions of copies of such essential bedside printed matter as The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who! and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Depp's no stranger to adaptations of kid lit, nor portraits of kid-literati: he's assayed Willy Wonka and the Mad Hatter for Tim Burton, and Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie (Finding Neverland, for Marc Forster) .
The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Business column reported the Depp/Dr.Seuss deal. And, if you can't wait, there's an animated version of The Lorax, Seuss' eco-masterwork, coming in March. Danny DeVito is the voice of the tree-hugging title character, and Zac Efron, Taylor Swift and Betty White are onboard. Despicable Me's Chris Renaud directs. But that's a whole other kettle of one fish two fish.