Pirate, sadistic barber, Mad Hatter, producer -- there's nothing Johnny Depp can't be at any given time. According to Variety, he's switched his mad hat for the producing one, as his shingle Infinitum Nihil has optioned Nick Tosches' book, "In the Hand of Dante." The novel will be adapted as a potential star vehicle for Depp, thus ensuring teenage girls and women the world over will suddenly develop an interest in Dante.

Tosches' novel is a gutsy one, as it casts the author himself as a sort of DaVinci Code/Indiana Jones-like hero. As Tosches bitterly muses on his own career and the nature of publishing, a gangster named Louie presents him with a stolen manuscript of Dante's "The Divine Comedy." He wants him to authenticate it, leading Tosches on a whirlwind quest that spans the globe, takes a few twists and turns, and causes a few dead bodies along the way. Read more...