Whitey Bulger biopic is now shooting in Boston

BOSTON, May 26 (UPI) -- Director Scott Cooper has begun shooting his still untitled Whitey Bulger biopic on location in Boston, Warner Bros. announced.

Johnny Depp is playing the notorious gangster in the big-screen adaptation of the book, Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob.

The film also stars Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Sienna Miller, Dakota Johnson, Julianne Nicholson and Adam Scott. It is scheduled for a fall 2015 theatrical release.

"In 1970s South Boston, FBI Agent John Connolly persuades Irish mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger to collaborate with the FBI and eliminate a common enemy: the Italian mob," a synopsis said. "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."

Bulger was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, plus five years, in November 2013 for his crimes, which included participation in 11 murders. He is now incarcerated in a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz.

The gangster and Catherine Greig, his longtime girlfriend, lived for more than a decade in Santa Monica, Calif., under assumed names before their arrest in 2011.