The Rum Diary, the late Hunter S. Thompson's autobiographical novel, is set to become a movie with Johnny Depp in the title role, seven years after the first attempt to bring it to the screen.

Graham King, the Oscar-winning producer of The Departed, has acquired all rights to the story, which he will co-produce with Depp.  

Hunter S. Thompson, centre, seen in 1998 with actors Benicio Del Toro, left, and Johnny Depp, wrote only one novel. The Rum Diary will star Depp in the title role.
(Kathy Willens/Associated Press)

A spokesperson for King's GK Films said shooting will begin as soon as Depp is finished his latest starring role in Mira Nair's Shantaram.

The Rum Diary is based on Thompson's experience in Puerto Rico in the late 1950s when he was working as a freelance journalist. He finished writing it in 1959, but it was not published until 1998.

Depp, who previously played Thompson's alter ego in 1996's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, will star as a reporter working in a struggling newspaper in San Juan while dealing with various love triangles. 

The movie is set to be released in 2008.

Bruce Robinson, Withnail & I and Jennifer 8, will write and direct.

In 2000, plans were announced by the now-defunct independent production company Shooting Gallery to make the film with Depp, who was set to be the star and executive producer. 

Two years later, a new producer came on board, with Benicio Del Toro attached to the project as a director, but that went by the wayside.

Thompson pioneered the concept of "gonzo journalism," using a freewheeling personal approach to writing, often fuelled by drugs and alcohol.

His notable works of journalism include Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72, his depiction of Richard Nixon's re-election campaign, his Watergate-era essays, The Great Shark Hunt, and his account of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential win, Better than Sex.

Thompson commited suicide in February 2005. He was 67.