Johnny Depp Versus Michael Mann

Just like the duelling Avatar announcements of earlier in the week, today has seen two Alexander Litvinenko projects pop up in Variety. The first is to be produced by Johnny Depp, presumably a project he would star in, though this was not certain; the second by Michael Mann.

In fact, Mann's film is based upon Death of a Dissident, a book that Depp's team also bid on having already secured the rights to Sasha's Story: The Life and Death of a Russian Spy. Presumably any research exclusive to each book will shape the respective films' narratives appropriately? Otherwise, what's the point of even having a book as your starting point at all?

My money is on Depp to deliver both the better and more financially successful of the two films.