Like Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walkin before him, few roles are impervious to Johnny Depp’s mad skillz. Even when he makes a stinker (Once Upon a Time in Mexico anyone?), you still can’t take your eyes off the guy.

Luckily for us, Depp will be stepping off the blockbuster Happy Meal train soon to return to the fringy fare that made filmgoers love him in the first place. Seven years after it was initially announced, the plan for Depp to star in a film version of Hunter S. Thompson’s The Rum Diary has finally been given the green light. Based on the 1959 novel scribed by the burgeoning “gonzo journalist” at 22 years old, the tale takes place in Puerto Rico where Thompson once worked for a San Juan sporting magazine. Naturally, there are vast quantities of alcohol involved as well as a clandestine love affair -- the perfect alchemy for some Depp magic.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Depp is set to co-produce the film with Oscar-winning producer, Graham King (The Departed) for Warner Independent Pictures and shooting is tentatively set to begin after the actor has completed work on the crime drama, Shantaram. This will mark Depp’s second foray into portraying one of Thompson’s not-so-thinly-veiled autobiographical characters, the first being his role as Raoul Duke in 1998’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Depp befriended the notorious author and firearms/substance-abuse enthusiast during the making of Fear and Loathing and remained loyal to Thompson until his 2005 suicide. High hopes for this one, so to speak.