Johnny Depp as Pancho Villa?

Johnny Depp is in advanced talks to star in a biopic focusing on Mexican bandit Pancho Villa.

The somewhat hilariously titled Seven Friends of Pancho Villa and the Woman With Six Fingers will lens in 2011, once Depp's other projects have cleared the way.

According to Variety , the film will be shot in Spanish. You can't say Depp isn't up for a challenge, but considering his shaky mastery of accents ( From Hell 's mockney horror, anyone?) we're actually a little worried about this, but clearly he's confident enough to give it a go.

The film is based on the novel The Friends of Pancho Villa by James Carlos Blake, which details how the early 20th century outlaw robbed from the rich, drank, danced and made merry while becoming a national hero. Sounds very Jack Sparrow to us; Depp should be a perfect fit.

Salma Hayek is also in talks to co-star and the script was written by Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica and screenwriter Gordan Mihic. The film will be shot in Mexico after Kusturica finishes work on his next movie, Cool Water , a black comedy about a Palestinian stripper.

Pancho Villa himself has already appeared in a movie: 1914's The Life of General Villa by DW Griffith. Unfortunately, Depp won't be able to go all Method and study him as he studied Keith Richards for Pirates of the Caribbean - the film's been lost in the mists of time.

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