apr 22, 2015 - BLACK MASS PreView CINEMACON LAS VEGAS

Description:

FROM VARIETY:
Exhibitors got their first look at Johnny Depp’s gangster drama “Black Mass” at the Warner Bros. panel at CinemaCon on Tuesday, drawing notable reactions that could build up momentum ahead of the film’s Sept. 18 release.

Depp was a no-show, but director Scott Cooper took time to praise his portrayal of Boston’s Whitey Bulger. “It’s a performance for the ages,” he asserted.

Cooper said the movie takes a look at abuse of power and the bonds of brotherhood. In the clip shown, Depp looked somewhat unrecognizable, with piercing blue eyes, combed-back blonde hair and a fearsome intensity — mostly in a dinner scene with David Harbour, who plays FBI supervisor John Morris.

The footage showed a few glimpses of Benedict Cumberbatch, who portrays Billy Bulger, Whitey Bulger’s law-abiding brother and a Massachusetts state senator. Joel Edgerton is playing disgraced FBI agent John Connolly, who aided Bulger and was sentenced to 40 years in prison despite maintaining his innocence