Kathryn Bigelow collars Depp & Hanks for Sleeping Dogs?

Yesterday I held onto a post reporting that Tom Hanks is close to signing on for Katherine Bigelow’s drug cartel drama, Sleeping Dogs (formerly known as Triple Frontier.) The casting rumor didn’t feel like big enough news beyond the usual community bulletin board announcement. Overnight the story got a lot more important as Deadline is now saying Johnny Depp is interested playing the other lead in the multi-faceted adventure. The script apparently provides plenty of meat for the some of the biggest names in Hollywood to sink their teeth into. Also being talked about to join the pack are Sean Penn, Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Javier Bardem and Christian Bale. Maybe Jeremy Renner too, if other commitments don’t cause a schedule conflict.

Commitment issues could pose a problem for Depp’s participation as well. He’s set to begin filming on Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows in February 2011, so his involvement with Sleeping Dogs will depend on jumping through some tight scheduling hoops.