In the film, Depp plays John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester, a well-known scoundrel in the court of Charles II (who is played by John Malkovich).

BBC: NEWS | UK | Wales | South East Wales | Depp on location in Crickhowell

But with star power like Depp and Christian Bale (who plays FBI man Melvin Purvis) and multiple car chases and bank robberies, the filmmakers felt confident enough to open the movie in the heat of summer.

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Johnny Depp's new film Secret Window, in which he plays a writer haunted by a man who accuses him of plagiarism, entered in fifth place.

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Within a few months, Mr. Grahame-Smith completely restructured and rewrote the screenplay, injecting it with campy humor that plays up the film's absurd premise: Barnabas Collins, a vampire played by Mr. Depp, emerges from a coffin after 200 years to find himself in the polyester, lava-lamp world of 1972.

WSJ: Seth Grahame-Smith: The Master of the Mash-Up