Sleeping Dog Johnny Depp

Sleeping Dog Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp is in talks to star in 'Sleeping Dogs'.

The movie is the first directorial project for Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow since 'The Hurt Locker', and sees her re-teaming with the film's writer Mark Boal.

Johnny will reportedly take on one of the two lead parts in the crime thriller with Tom Hanks close to signing on for the other.

Additional actors considered for roles in the film include Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Christian Bale

The movie tells the tale of five men working in the border zone between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, which is a centre for organised crime in the region.

The Script is still to be completed and there is currently no start date set.

Meanwhile, 47-year-old Johnny has been taken ill on the set of his latest movie 'Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' in London.

The actor - who plays Captain Jack Sparrow - missed filming earlier this week because he was feeling "poorly."

Johnny is not the only Hollywood actor feeling under the weather in the UK capital.

Robert Downey Jr. was forced to miss filming on Guy Ritchie's 'Sherlock Holmes' sequel - in which he plays the titular detective - on Tuesday (05.10.10) after coming down with a cold.

A source on the set told The Sun newspaper: "Everyone was fired up and ready to go. Word filtered around that Robert had a bit of a sniffle and wouldn't be coming in. It was a bit of a shock."