Eckhart, Jenkins join Depp in "Rum Diary"

By Borys Kit

BERLIN (Hollywood Reporter) - Aaron Eckhart and Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins will be hitting the sauce in "The Rum Diary," the screen adaptation of the Hunter S. Thompson novel that stars Johnny Depp.

Eckhart is in negotiations while Jenkins has signed on for the independent film, which Bruce Robinson adapted and is directing. Actress Amber Heard ("Pineapple Express") also is on board.

Eckhart would play the third element of the central love triangle, which also involves Depp and Heard. "Diary" is the tale of Paul Kemp (Depp), a washed-up, hard-drinking journalist in 1950s Puerto Rico. Eckhart would play Sanderson, a wealthy landowner who believes everything has a price and introduces Kemp to a different standard of living.

Jenkins is playing Lotterman, the man who oversees the run-down newspaper where Kemp works.

Eckhart, who played Harvey Dent/Two-Face in "The Dark Knight," will star in the sci-fi action film "Battle: Los Angeles," and next appears on the big screen opposite Jennifer Aniston in the romantic drama "Traveling."

Jenkins, nominated for the best actor Oscar for "The Visitor," just signed on for a stint in Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's mystery-shrouded horror project "Cabin in the Woods."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter