Johnny Depp, actor extraordinaire, was spotted at Hatfield House in Herts, UK directing a music video by the band Babybird this week. As you can see in the photos below, Johnny was all gussied up in his usual flamboyant attire as he made his music video directing debut … behold:

While I’m sure his acting career keeps him very bizzy, it’s nice that he took the time to help out this band by directing their music video. Despite the way their name sounds, Babybird have been around since the mid-90’s. It’s unclear if Johnny was hired just to be director or if he was doing a favor for friends but I’m really curious to see how the final product turns out.

[Photo credit: INFdaily]

After the Internets went WILD over the release of the first trailer for Tim Burton’s new Disney film Alice In Wonderland this past Wednesday, it was assumed that the trailer would be the central focal point of the film’s presence at San Diego Comic-Con taking place this weekend. As was assumed, Tim Burton was on hand to personally show the video footage at Comic-Con yesterday … but he brought along a surprise guest with him. Johnny Depp shocked fans by popping up on stage to say hello … before he, almost immediately, disappeared and left the premises:

English heartthrob Robert Pattinson wasn’t due to arrive in Hall H of the San Diego Convention Center until later in the afternoon, but he was in real danger of being upstaged by the screams that met Johnny Depp’s surprise appearance Thursday morning at the first panel of the day at Comic-Con International. Depp, dressed in a white shirt and black vest, was on hand to support director Tim Burton, who unveiled a 3-D teaser trailer for his upcoming “Alice in Wonderland,” due out in March. The film draws from a cross-section of Lewis Carroll’s writing, including the Jabberwocky poem. The footage, which prominently featured Depp’s Mad Hatter, mostly highlighted the variety of the fantastic images Burton has assembled for the movie, created using a hybrid of live-action and animation and other techniques. At the urging of moderator Patton Oswalt, it was shown three separate times. “John and I worked together many times, but he’s never done a character with orange hair,” Burton dryly observed from the stage about the Hatter’s unusual aesthetic. “We scalped Carrot Top and took his hair….We realized once we got into it that we picked out every image from TV and cinema of red hair and it’s quite a distributing thing — from Bozo onward,” the director deadpanned.

According to E! News, Johnny uttered just 5 words before POOF! he was gone:

In fact, Depp stopped by, said five words and then totally just left. Here’s what went down: After screening a custom-made trailer for his Comic-Con fans, director Burton asked the crowd if they would like to meet the “imaginary friend” that follows him around. The crowd cheered and Depp, who plays the Mad Hatter, walked onstage in a button-up shirt and fitted black vest. He had long bangs sweeping the side of his face, and wore a thick leather bracelet. After several moments of cheering, Depp whispered into the mic: “Hey. Happy to be here.” And then, poof, he was gone. Moderator Patton Oswalt told the crowd that Depp could reappear later in the day, so “be nice to every guy you see dressed like Jack Sparrow.”

The ONLY person who could upstage Robert Pattinson these days is Johnny Depp … and I kinda love that he just showed up to say hello before running as fast as he could from the venue. Brills. But, getting back to Wonderland, the official poster artwork for the film has been released and features the promo photos that we saw a few weeks ago. While they aren’t all that new, I think they’re worth a second look … as is a pretty cool photo of the Cheshire Cat who was featured in yesterday’s Comic-Con presentation of Alice in Wonderland …

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A couple weeks ago we got our first look at the amazing promo photos that have been released from Tim Burton’s new film Alice In Wonderland, featuring the beloved literary characters The Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp), The Red Queen (played by Helena Bonham Carter), The White Queen (played by Anne Hathaway) and more. The new issue of Vanity Fair magazine, the one with Heath Ledger on the cover, features another look at the full-size promo photos:

These photos are the same ones we saw previously but VF mag does publish the full-size photographs that the Technicolored promo pics were based on. After the jump, check them out for yourselves …

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Christian Bale, Johnny Depp, Marion Cotillard and others were on hand for the Hollywood premiere of their new film Public Enemies which took place during the LA Film Festival in Westwood, CA last night. Here are a few pics from the red carpet arrivals and some deets on last night’s event:

Both began their careers in the mid-’80s with instant classics (”Empire of the Sun,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street”), matured as actors with critically acclaimed roles in the ’90s (”Ed Wood,” “American Psycho”) and broke through with iconic characters in recent years (the “Pirates” and “Batman” films). Both possess the rare quality of making women want them and men want to be like them — and the even rarer skill of being indie-minded actors who lose no credibility when they delve into blockbuster territory. And on Tuesday evening, the remarkably similar career trajectories of Johnny Depp and Christian Bale converged on a red carpet full of gals, guns and gangsters at the premiere of “Public Enemies.” “We are both fellas, and both dads, and both in the same profession,” Depp, who plays notorious outlaw John Dillinger in the flick, explained of his similarities to Bale. “He’s very good, and tremendously talented.” “He’s a very unique actor,” returned Bale, who spends “Enemies” in hot pursuit of Depp’s Dillinger as FBI agent Melvin Purvis. “And I admire his work.” “Both are so intense and so committed and generous,” marveled Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, who plays Depp’s love interest in the Michael Mann flick. “It’s a really hard question: How do you compare something unique to something unique?” Another unique pop-culture phenomenon is our continuing fascination with the American gangster. Although Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Frank Nitti, Baby Face Nelson and other “Enemies” characters saw their real-life glory days some 70 years ago, we’re still enamored with them. So, what is it that makes gangsters so timeless? “Dillinger, you see, he was a bit more of an outlaw,” Depp explained. “The best thing about being an outlaw was the machine gun — and unlimited ammunition.” “The finest cars,” Bale said of the gangster life. “[Their] cars have this artistry, and they have a sense of the character.” “You can make your own rules, and bend the rules,” reasoned Leelee Sobieski, who plays another Dillinger flame in the film. “[When you're a gangster], crazy things will happen.” “Just saying the name ‘gangster’ — the hats, women and cars,” agreed Jason Clarke, who works alongside Depp in the film as fellow outlaw “Red” Hamilton. “They were guys that did what they wanted.” And speaking of people who can do whatever they want, it was hard to not notice the gangster-like power wielded by Depp and Bale as they walked the red carpet, greeted by shrieks of adoring fans. “I had a crush on Johnny when I was 6 years old,” Sobieski gushed. “I loved him in ‘Cry-Baby’!”

Yeah, I don’t know what it is about the romantic nature of gangsters but I feel that this impressive cast of actors will do a great service to that romantic notion and will do much to revive their appeal. I think the casting for this film is genius … as long as the writing in the film is decent, I suspect this movie will do very well. After the jump, check out a short video interview with Johnny Depp conducted by MTV News — the questions are kinda inane but Depp does a great job responding …

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Last November we got our very FIRST LOOK at Johnny Depp in full make-up and costume as The Mad Hatter in Tim Burton’s new film, Alice in Wonderland. Today, we get to see a whole slew of new promo photos from the upcoming Disney film including finished character art of Depp as The Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as The White Queen and Matt Lucas as Tweedledee & Tweedledum. First up, tho, check out these very cool-looking promo pics from the film of Wonderland itself:

Burton gave us a grief-wracked demon barber in 2007’s Sweeney Todd and oodles of Oompa Loompas in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now one of Hollywood’s most visually creative directors layers his own surreal sensibilities upon the fanciful world of Lewis Carroll in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, due in theaters on March 5, 2010. This first look at some of the concept art for the film suggests there is the usual Burton dark magic afoot.

Yes, yes … these images are really beautiful and hint at a more sinister Wonderland than we may be accustomed to … but it is the character art that really gives you a good feel for the tone of the film. After the jump, check out the amazing promo images of The Mad Hatter, The Red Queen, The White Queen and The Tweedles …

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Johnny Depp, star of the upcoming film Public Enemies, is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Vanity Fair magazine. Altho Depp’s interview with the mag has yet to be published online, VF teases that it was conducted by contributing editor Douglas Brinkley on his private Caribbean island and gives some info on how the whole thing came about. Here is Johnny’s Vanity Fair coverphoto and the deets made available about the interview:

Ever wonder what it would be like to take a vacation with Johnny Depp on his private Caribbean island? Vanity Fair contributing editor Douglas Brinkley, who, like Depp, was a close friend of the late gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, did just that. As he reports in the July cover story, “Johnny Depp’s Great Escape,” it’s pretty damn great. With no handlers or publicists in sight, Brinkley, Depp, and three of the actor’s best friends set off from the Bahamas on Depp’s yacht to a 45-acre tropical paradise called Little Hall’s Pond Cay. Here are some choice nuggets from Brinkley’s travelogue:

Depp also talks to Brinkley about the experience of filming his new movie, Public Enemies; his favorite Hollywood icon (and what she ordered when he had dinner with her); his approach to acting and the toll it can take on him; and which famous fictional character he’d like to play. To read the complete article, pick up the July issue of Vanity Fair, which is on newsstands in New York and Los Angeles on June 3, nationwide on June 9.

OMG … what a great opportunity for Brinkley and Vanity Fair — I don’t know that any other publication has ever been afforded this kind of opportunity. I cannot imagine what it must be like to have such access to Johnny Depp on his private island … insane! I must read this article when it gets released. In the meantime, we have a bunch of photos from this issue of VF to content ourselves with — check ‘em out after the jump …

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Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard are among the big names starring in this Summer’s cops & robbers film Public Enemies which tells the tale of the notorious crime wave that gripped the nation back in 1930 … making pseudo-celebrities out of criminals like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd. Here is our first look at a new movie poster which features Johnny Depp, who stars as John Dillinger in the film:

I used to be fascinated with the notion that bank robbers could become celebrities in this country but never quite could believe it … of course, this was in the days before the Internet and Reality TV took over the public consciousness. Now I can understand how something like that could happen very easily … tho, it still amazes me that this celeb status could so easily spring up back in the 1930s. I can’t wait to see this film … I hear it’s going to be amazing. After the jump, check out two more posters from Public Enemies — one which features Christian Bale (as Melvin Purvis) and one which features Marion Cotillard (as Billie Frechette) …

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