Nominations for Adapted Screenplay-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Adapted Screenplay category are:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
  
• “Doubt” (Miramax), Written by John Patrick Shanley
  
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Screenplay by Peter Morgan
  
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Hare
  
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Nominations for Original Screenplay-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Original Screenplay category are:

• “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Courtney Hunt
  
• “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Miramax), Written by Mike Leigh
  
• “In Bruges” (Focus Features), Written by Martin McDonagh
  
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Written by Dustin Lance Black
  
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon, Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Nominations for Achievement In Sound Mixing-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement In Sound Mixing category are:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
  
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
  
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
  
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
  
• “Wanted” (Universal), Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Nominations for Achievement In Visual Effects-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement In Visual Effects category are:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
  
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
  
• “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

Nominations for Achievement In Film Editing-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement In Film Editing category are:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
  
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Lee Smith
  
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
  
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Elliot Graham
  
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Chris Dickens

Nominations for Achievement In Sound Editing-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement In Sound Editing category are:

• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Richard King
  
• “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
  
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
  
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
  
• “Wanted” (Universal), Wylie Stateman

Nominations for Achievement In Art Direction-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement In Art Direction category are:

• “Changeling” (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
  
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
  
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
  
• “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
  
• “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

Nominations for Achievement In Cinematography-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement In Cinematography category are:

• “Changeling” (Universal), Tom Stern
  
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Claudio Miranda
  
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
  
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
  
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Anthony Dod Mantle

Nominations for Best Live Action Short Film-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Best Live Action Short Film category are:

• “Auf der Strecke (On the Line)” (Hamburg Shortfilmagency), An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production, Reto Caffi
  
• “Manon on the Asphalt” (La Luna Productions), A La Luna Production, Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
  
• “New Boy” (Network Ireland Television), A Zanzibar Films Production, Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
  
• “The Pig” An M & M Production, Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
  
• “Spielzeugland (Toyland)” A Mephisto Film Production, Jochen Alexander Freydank

Nominations for Best Animated Short Film-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Best Animated Short Film category are:

• “La Maison en Petits Cubes” A Robot Communications Production, Kunio Kato
  
• “Lavatory - Lovestory” A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production, Konstantin Bronzit
  
• “Oktapodi” (Talantis Films), A Gobelins, L’école de l’image Production, Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
  
• “Presto” (Walt Disney), A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Doug Sweetland
  
• “This Way Up” A Nexus Production, Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

Nominations for Best Motion Picture of the Year-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Best Motion Picture of the Year category are:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), A Kennedy/Marshall Production, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
  
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Production, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
  
• “Milk” (Focus Features), A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production, Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
  
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production, Nominees to be determined
  
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A Celador Films Production, Christian Colson, Producer
  

Nominations for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original song)-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original song) category are:

• “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
  
• “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
  
• “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Nominations for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original score)-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original score) category are:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Alexandre Desplat
  
• “Defiance” (Paramount Vantage), James Newton Howard
  
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Elfman
  
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
  
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Thomas Newman

Nominations for Achievement in Makeup-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement in Makeup category are:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
  
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
  
• “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Nominations for Best Documentary Short Subject-81Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Best Documentary Short Subject category are:

• “The Conscience of Nhem En” A Farallon Films Production, Steven Okazaki
  
• “The Final Inch” A Vermilion Films Production, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
  
• “Smile Pinki” A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
  
• “The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306” A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

Nominations for Best Documentary Feature-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Best Documentary Feature category are:

• “The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)” (Cinema Guild), A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
  
• “Encounters at the End of the World” (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment), A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
  
• “The Garden” A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
  
• “Man on Wire” (Magnolia Pictures), A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
  
• “Trouble the Water” (Zeitgeist Films), An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

Nominations for Achievement in Costume Design-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement in Costume Design category are:

• “Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin
  
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West
  
• “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
  
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Glicker
  
• “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Albert Wolsky
  

Nominations for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year category are:

• “The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production, Germany
  
• “The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France
  
• “Departures” (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan
  
• “Revanche” (Janus Films), A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production, Austria
  
• “Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel

Nominations for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year category are:

• “Bolt” (Walt Disney), Chris Williams and Byron Howard
  
• “Kung Fu Panda” (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount), John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
  
• “WALL-E” (Walt Disney), Andrew Stanton

Nominations for Achievement in Directing-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Achievement in Directing category are:

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), David Fincher
  
• “Frost/Nixon” (Universal), Ron Howard
  
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Gus Van Sant
  
• “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company), Stephen Daldry
  
• “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight), Danny Boyle

Nominations for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role category are:

• Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
  
• Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
  
• Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax)
  
• Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
  
• Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Hollywood Celebrity's with HOT CARS

Miley Cyrus has her driver’s permit and is out on the streets.

Kate Walsh best from the hit show Grey’s Anatomy where she played Dr. Sheppard, the ex-wife up Dr. McDreamy and here you can see her leaving Bel-Air in her Chili Red Range Rover Sport.

Nicholas Cage may have raced around the Los Angeles area in a 1967 Shelby GT500 for the remake of Gone in 60 Seconds, but it seems his heart really belonged to 1970 Hemi ’Cuda Hardtop.

Jay Leno’s Bentley Speed Six

Looks like Beyonce Knowles is 'crazy in love' with her new Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren.

Pierce Brosnan – Owns an Aston Martin Vanquish.

Hollywood Celebrity Kim Kardashian – Black Bentley car

Kim Kardashian – Drives a Black Bentley Continental
GTC.

Hollywood Celebrity Paris Hilton with Pink Bentley Car :

Paris Hilton with Pink Bentley Car :

Paris Hilton's customized Pink Bentley car. Her new Hot wheel car arrived this Christmas , Paris hilton presented to herself worth an estimated $200,000 - fulfilling a childhood fantasy of owning a vehicle like children's toy doll Barbie.

Hollywood Celebrity Kim Kardashian – Range Rover

Kardashian is not your average trust-fund kid from Beverly Hills, California. Just because she is the second-eldest daughter of the late O.J. Simpson attorney, Robert Kardashian, and a step-daughter of 1976 Olympic Games decathlon gold medalist Bruce Jenner, doesnt mean all she does with her days is sit around the pool and go shopping. Okay, maybe she shops, but only because its her job. Yes, I said job
Despite growing up in a world of immense privilege in what is quoted on her official website as an almost fairytale childhood, Kim Kardashian has actually been working since she was 16 years old with her fathers company, Movie Tunes.

I find it funny when people just see me as being one of those rich kids, she said. I stopped getting money from my parents when I turned 18-years-old. There's more to me than that; I'm a sister, a daughter and'fashionista.


With the inherited entrepreneurial spirit from her father and a passion for fashion, Kim started her own celebrity styling business. Her first styling stint was for best friend Brandy Norwood when she was asked to style for her promotional tour for Afrodisiac (Atlantic Records, 2004).

I thought she was kidding but then I got a call from her record label saying that I only had a week to style Brandy and all her backup dancers for the tour, she said. It gave me an amazing opportunity to get into the business I loved, and I never left it.
She now has a successful business as Hollywoods go-to girl for closet makeovers, where she dissects celebrity closets and even sells their outdated clothing on eBay. My first closet makeover was for my godmothers closet, she said. I also sold $25,000-worth of her old clothes and she took that money and placed it on a down payment for a Mercedes.

In June 2006, Kim and two of her younger sisters opened up their own upscale clothing boutique in Calabasas, California titled DASH after their last name.

My sister opened up a childrens store three years ago and when a space became available next to it, we jumped at the opportunity to open up an upscale clothing boutique, she explained. It was a dream of mine.

Nominations for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role category are:

• Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
  
• Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal)
  
• Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics)
  
• Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax)
  
• Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

Nominations for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role category are:

• Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features)
  
• Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
  
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax)
  
• Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
  
• Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

Nominations for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role-81st Oscar Awards

The Nominations for Performance by an actor in a leading role category are:

• Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films)
  
• Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
  
• Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
  
• Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
  
• Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

81st Oscar Awards-Nominations

The Nominations for the 81st Annual Academy Oscar Awards was announced on 22nd January 2009 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis and Oscar winner Forest Whitaker. Ganis and Whitaker, who won an Academy Award for lead performance in "The Last King of Scotland" (2006), announced the nominees in 10 of the 24 categories at a live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives. To see the nominations in any one of the 24 categories click on it:

• Performance by an actor in a leading role
  
• Performance by an actor in a supporting role
  
• Performance by an actress in a leading role
  
• Performance by an actress in a supporting role
  
• Achievement in directing
  
• Best animated feature film of the year
  
• Best foreign language film of the year
  
• Achievement in costume design
  
• Best documentary feature
  
• Best documentary short subject
  
• Achievement in makeup
  
• Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
  
• Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
  
• Best motion picture of the year
  
• Best animated short film
  
• Best live action short film
  
• Achievement in art direction
  
• Achievement in cinematography
  
• Achievement in film editing
  
• Achievement in sound editing
  
• Achievement in sound mixing
  
• Achievement in visual effects
  
• Adapted screenplay
  
• Original screenplay

81st Oscar Awards

The latest and the hottest topic for discussion is the Oscar Night, the 81st Annual Academy Awards, which is being held on 22nd February 2009. Oscar Awards are the most prestigious awards of Hollywood. Before I begin with the details of the 81st award ceremony I would like to acquaint you all with a brief history about the awards.

Oscars or the Academy Awards were not a publicized event before, as they are now. The first Oscar Award was held out of public eye on May 16th 1929 during the Academy banquet at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's blossom Room. It was quite a long ceremony full of long speeches, thought the Academy President Douglas Fairbanks made quick work of handing out the statuettes. The recipients of the awards were announced three months earlier, so there was only a little bit of suspense left during the ceremony. But this changed the very next year and the Academy decided to keep the results secret until the ceremony. But they gave a list in advance to the newspapers for publication at 11 p.m. on the night of the Awards.

This policy could continue only until 1940 when the newspaper group Los Angeles Times broke this deal and published the list of winners in its evening edition itself, which was readily available to guests arriving for the ceremony. As a result of this the Academy to adopt the sealed-envelope system from 1941, which is followed till today. In 1929 during the first award ceremony, 15 awards were given for cinematic Achievements in 1927-28. The winner of the first Best Actor Award was German tragedian Emil Jannings. Emil Jannings had to return to Europe before the ceremony so, the Academy granted his request to receive the trophy early, making his statuette the very first Academy Award presented ever.

By the second Academy Awards Ceremony the enthusiasm of the awards for so much that a Los Angeles Radio Station gave a live one-hour broadcast of the event. The ceremony has been broadcast ever since. The ceremonies continued to be held at banquets at the Ambassador and Biltmore hotels, until in 1942, the increased attendance forced the academy to organize the event at a bigger place. The 16th Oscar Awards was held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and after this the event has always been held at a theater.

In 1953 these awards were telecast on the television and millions of people throughout United States and Canada watched the proceedings. Broadcasting in color began in 1966 and enabled people to view such an event in its true color. Now these awards are broadcast on a very large scale and is available to more than 200 million people around the world.

The above was a brief history about the Oscar Awards. To know about the Nominations at the 81st Annual Academy Oscar Awards, which are going to take place on 22nd February 2009 Click Here!

Hollywood Celebrities and U.S Presidential Inauguration

Today is 22th January and today is the first day of office for the 44th President of America, Barack Obama. In the most important and happening event, the U.S Presidential Inauguration, on 20th January Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The U.S Presidential Inauguration, marked the commencement of the four year term of Barack Obama and Joseoh Biden as President and Vice President and was attended by an exceptionally large number of people. With this ceremony Barack Obama became the first African American to hold the office and the first President born in Hawaii. The theme of this 56th U.S Presidential Inauguration was "A New Birth of Freedom," commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.

The U.S Presidential Inauguration celebration began on January 17, 2009 with a train ride beginning from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Many of the official events were held in Washington, D.C. from January 18 to 21, 2009. These events included the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, a day of service on the federal observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a "Kids' Inaugural: We Are the Future" concert event at the Verizon Center, the inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, an inaugural luncheon at National Statuary Hall, a parade along Pennsylvania Avenue, a series of inaugural balls at the Washington Convention Center and other locations, a private White House gala and an inaugural prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral.

Among the large number of people who were present at this historic event, there were many Hollywood Celebrities too. Among those present at this event were Sean Combs, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Kate Capshaw, Oprah Winfrey, Stedman Graham, John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman, Magic Johnson, Boxing promoter Don King, Muhammad Ali, Miley Cyrus and her father, Billy Ray, Young Jeezy, Jay-Z, Herbie Hancock, David Arquette, Ben Affleck, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Tobey Maguire, David Archuletta, Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Foxx, Bow Wow, "The Wrestler's" Marisa Tomei, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Mary J. Blige, Actress Rosario Dawson, Bono and the Edge, Pro golfer Tiger Woods, Usher, Queen Latifah, Actor/comedian George Lopez, Singer Sheryl Crow, Actor Forrest Whittaker, Actress Ashley Judd, George Lucas, Actor Samuel Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Jon Bon Jovi, soul singer Bettye LaVette, Actor Tom Hanks, Folk singer Pete Seeger, the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am look on, Singer John Legend, Country star Garth Brooks, Singer John Mellencamp, Josh Groban, Heather Headley, Singer James Taylor and Actor Jack Black.

Oof! So many stars and such a prestigious event!

Johnny Depp-Movies

Johnny Depp got a break in a lead role on the FOX TV television series, 21 Jump Street, which premiered in 1987. Johnny Depp accepted this role because he wasn't getting much work in the business and wanted to work with actor Frederic Forrest, who inspired him. Later Depp's long time friend Sal Jenco also joined the cast of the show, as a semi-co-star as the janitor named Blowfish. The show was a success and it made Johnny Depp a popular teen idol during the late 1980s, a status which which he found an irritant one. He also quoted that he felt "forced into the role of product" and that it was "a very uncomfortable situation and I didn't get a handle on it and it wasn't on my terms at all." So Johnny Depp promised himself that after the expiry of the contract on the series, he would only appear in films that he felt were right for him.

Johnny Depp's first major role was in the horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street, of the year 1994. His role was of the heroine's boyfriend and one of Freddy's victims. In 1986, Johnny Depp appeared in a secondary role as a Vietnamese-speaking private in Oliver Stone's Platoon. Finally in 1990 Depp got relieved from his teen idol image when he played the quirky title role in Edward Scissorhands, a Tim Burton film. The film was a huge success and from here Depp's association with Burton also reached great heights. Johnny Depp's dream came true when he got an opportunity to play a version of his idol and long-time friend writer Hunter S. Thompson, named Raoul Duke in 1998's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The movie was based on the writer's pseudobiographical novel of the same name. Johnny Depp has also also accompanied Thompson as his road manager on one of the author's last book's tours.

In 2006, Johnny Depp contributed a personal foreword to Hunter S.Thompson's book Gonzo. Gonzo is a posthumous visual biography of the writer's legacy published by ammobooks.com. Johnny Depp paid for most of Thompson's memorial events, complete with fireworks and the shooting of Thompson's ashes by a cannon, in Aspen, Colorado, where Thompson lived. Johnny Depp's characters he portrays in films have been described by the press as "iconic loners," and Depp has noted that this period of his career was full of "studio defined failures" and films that were "box office poison,". He said that he believes film studios never "understood" the films he appeared in and did not know how to market them properly. Depp also believes in doing those films that he found personally interesting, and not those he thought would succeed at the box office.

Johnny Depp made a mark as a major star with the success of the 2003 Walt Disney Pictures film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. His lead performance as the suave pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, in the film was highly praised. Initially his role received negative responses by the studio bosses who saw the film, but the character became popular when the movie released in public. Depp was also considered to be one of the main reasons audiences wanted to see the movie. Depp told the press that he modeled the character after Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards. For this movie Depp was nominated for an Academy Award. In 2004, he was again nominated for a Best Actor Oscar but this time for playing Scottish author J. M. Barrie in the film Finding Neverland. Johnny Depp next starred as Willy Wonka in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was a major success at the box office, in 2005.

Johnny Depp again appeared as Jack sparrow in the sequel of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which was released on July 7, 2006 and grossed $135.5 million in the first three days of its U.S. release, breaking a box office record in reaching the highest weekend tally ever. The next sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean, At World's End, was released on May 24, 2007. Depp once mentioned that he has an attachment to his Captain Jack Sparrow character, specifying that Sparrow is "definitely a big part of me", and expressing his desire to portray the character in further sequels. Johnny Depp has even given voice to Sparrow in the video game, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow.

Johnny Depp together with Gore Verbinski is executive producer of the album Rogues Gallery, Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys. Johnny Depp also played the title role of Sweeney Todd in Tim Burton's film adaptation of the musical Sweeney Todd. For this role he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. As a child, Johnny Depp was obsessed with Dark Shadows which is a gothic-themed soap opera that was aired on ABC from 1966 to 1971. Due to this reason he accepted Warner Brothers proposal to make a film version of the this show and in July 2007, a rights deal was signed with Dan Curtis, the show's producer/director.

Johnny Depp and Graham King will be producing the above mentioned movie along with David Kennedy. Depp will also appear in a film version of writer Hunter S. Thompson's book, The Rum Diary in which he will be portraying the main character Paul Kemp. Depp's production company has also got the rights to the story of poisoned former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. Johnny Depp has also signed a movie named The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, where he will be playing one incarnation of the Heath Ledger character, along with Jude Law and Colin Farrell. All these three actors gave their salaries from the film to Ledger's daughter, Matilda. His upcoming movies are Burton's Alice in Wonderland , where he will portray the Mad Hatter and a fourth sequel of the Pirates series in which Depp would reprise his Captain Jack Sparrow role.