Johnny Depp is doing a movie with Wes Anderson because the world loves pleasant surprises

Possibly realizing that he me have overstayed his welcome in a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie that was not well-received, Johnny Depp has signed on to appear in Wes Anderson’s next movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel, which includes an illustrious cast of thousands and one Mr. Bill Murray. This means a couple of things: 1. There is a very good chance of seeing Johnny Depp walk in slow motion alongside people like Owen Wilson, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, and (maybe) Angela Lansbury. And 2. He may also have the splendid opportunity to be hilarious and touching in the most subtle way possible. This… this is excellent news.

As his follow-up to Disney’s The Lone Ranger (the trailer for which revealed trains, trains, and more trains at Comic Con last weekend), Depp has been officially confirmed to have a role in the quirky director’s next movie. Annnnnd… aside from the people on his casting wish list — all of the stars mentioned above, plus Jude Law and Adrien Brody — that’s about all we know about The Grand Budapest Hotel. Anderson did tell /Film that it probably won’t be considered “family-friendly,” which has some people rightfully intrigued as to which role Ms. Lansbury would be playing amongst all those menfolk. (You saucy thing, you.)

I like this idea of Depp doing a Wes Anderson movie a lot. The specific tone of those movies has treated unexpected actors really, really well (see: Bruce Willis and Edward Norton in Moonrise Kingdom), and it’s high time that Depp took a break from his buddy Tim Burton for a while. They can totally still hang out, but they’re getting to that point in their careers as collaborators where they just start making all the things they talk about over drinks because they have all that money and time. And it’s just not always a good idea.

Wes Anderson and Johnny Depp to make a movie [Splitsider]