The screen version of journalist Hunter S. Thompson’s first novel, The Rum Diary, starring Johnny Depp began principal photography in Puerto Rico recently.

The film also stars Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight), Amber Heard (Pineapple Express), Michael Rispoli (Rounders), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor) and Giovanni Ribisi (Saving Private Ryan).

Bruce Robinson wrote the screenplay and will direct the film. He previously won a Golden Globe, BAFTA Award, and the WGA Award for his screenplay, The Killing Fields (1984).

The film will also be the debut for Infinitum Nihil, the production company headed by Johnny Depp and Christi Dembrowski.

The Rum Diary tells the chaotic story of journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) who grows tired of the madness of New York and the conventions of the late Eisenhower-era America. So, Kemp travels to Puerto Rico to write for a local San Juan newspaper, run by editor Lotterman (Jenkins). Kemp quickly falls victim to the alcoholic lifestyle and becomes involved in a love triangle with a woman played by Heard.

Depp has previously starred in another of Thompson’s books-turned-film, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998).

The film is scheduled to be released in 2010.

—Jessica Delli Santi