Studio chasing Depp for magician's role

Johnny Depp is being pursued for the lead role in 'Carter Beats the Devil'.

The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star is wanted by studio Warner Bros for the adaptation of the 2002 novel by Glen David Gold to play the part of Charles Carter, a magician who is working on his grandest illusion and stages a sawing in half of 1920s US president Warren G. Harding, only for him to die shortly afterwards.