in spite of this major setback, mccudden and his production partner charles evans persisted in trying to get the film made, as they had already invested a substantial amount of their own money into it. in 1994, they were able to convince johnny depp to rewrite, direct and produce the film. depp didn't like the original script, but still took on the project as he was moved by "the idea of sacrifice for family." depp cast himself in the lead role as a means to attract interest from potential financers. in the end, the film would primarily be financed by depp himself.