Johnny Depp has been in the news for the past few months for everything but his movies. Now that the actor has wrapped up his highly-publicised divorce with actress Amber Heard, the 53-year-old is once again making headlines as he gears up to solve the murder mysteries of rapper Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G in the movie Labyrinth.

Depp will star in the thriller as detective Russell Poole, the real-life LAPD detective who was involved in the investigation of both the high-profile murders, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter.

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Based on a screenplay by Christian Contreras, Labyrinth is an adaptation of Randall Sullivan's book by the same name. Depp's character happens to be a celebrated officer who spent the late 1990s investigating the unsolved murders of hip-hop icons Shakur and Biggie Smalls, who was born as Christopher Wallace.

Poole was reported to be constricted by endless legwork and dead-ends in his investigation before he uncovered deep-rooted corruption in the LAPD. His investigation, which rocked the institution, revealed that "gangsta cops in his own force were not only involved but were also tied to Death Row Records and the Bloods street gang." As a result he confronted the LAPD police chief and ended up going on early retirement in protest.

Labyrinth will be directed by Brad Furman, who is famous for helming projects such as The Infiltrator, Runner Runner and The Lincoln Lawyer.

The Good Films project will be the Pirates Of The Caribbean actor's first movie after his acrimonious divorce from Heard. The celebrity couple had earlier announced their settlement on 16 August in a joint statement that read, "There was never any intent of physical or emotional harm".

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Johnny Depp starring murder mystery is based on a book by Randall Sullivan Getty