Johnny Depp In ‘Black Mass’ Delivers Cold Shivers In This Second Trailer [Video]

The second trailer for Scott Cooper’s Black Mass is as chilling as the first trailer — and how could we forget that eerie cackling from Johnny Depp in that one? In the latest Black Mass trailer, we get to see more from Mr. Depp that proves he’s as versatile as a gangster as he has been as a pirate, though Johnny does always seem to be on the wrong side of the law.

Black Mass opens with Depp’s character, the notorious Whitey Bulger, giving some sound advice to his six-year-old son.

“If nobody sees it, it didn’t happen.”

Who (besides Dakota Johnson) could argue with that logic?

“In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) persuades Irish mobster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger (Johnny Depp) to collaborate with the FBI and eliminate a common enemy: the Italian mob. The drama tells the true story of this unholy alliance, which spiraled out of control, allowing Whitey to evade law enforcement, consolidate power, and become one of the most ruthless and powerful gangsters in Boston history.”

The character portrayed by Mr. Depp in Black Mass is based on one of the most notorious gangsters in U.S. history, spending years at the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted List. This isn’t the first time Bulger has inspired a film about his deeds. In 2006, Jack Nicholson played a largely fictionalized Frank Costello in The Departed, who is said to have been based upon Whitey.

Black Mass seems to focus more on the criminal than on the lawmen trying to bring him down, which will play out well for Johnny Depp. Even Mr. Depp’s own director credits him for giving a performance that resembles the real Whitey Bulger so closely as to make the two men nearly indistinguishable.

“He could be charming. He could be ruthless. He was like a cobra—you never knew where he could strike,” director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) said of Bulger. “A lot of people on set knew Whitey intimately. They got chills at [Depp’s] resemblance. Some of them couldn’t even look at him. It’s easy to be the mustache twirling villain but this performance couldn’t be further from that. He is truly gifted.”

The real Whitey Bulger was convicted in November of 2013 and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment, so he will miss Johnny’s interpretation.

Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Dakota Johnson, will arrive in theaters on September 18.

[Featured image: Johnny Depp courtesy of Warner Bros]