Director Peter Weir will helm Shantaram, the Warner Bros. adaptation of the Gregory David Roberts novel. The feature will star Johnny Depp.

Weir will develop the script with Eric Roth. Production is likely to start late next year.

An Australian heroin addict escapes a maximum-security prison and reinvents himself in India as a doctor in the slums of Bombay. His attempt to find medicine for his destitute patients leads him into counterfeiting, gunrunning and smuggling.

WB executives envisioned an epic film when they agreed to pay $2 million for worldwide rights to the novel last year.

Depp´s Infinitum Nihil, Plan B´s Brad Pitt and Initial Entertainment Group´s Graham King are set to produce the feature.

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