Johnny Depp is gunning for an Oscar in the first Black Mass trailer

Every new Johnny Depp movie comes with the same question: What kind of wacky hat is he wearing this time? Sometimes it's a bandanna; sometimes it's a top hat; sometimes it's a dead crow. But anyone eager to see Depp in a fez or a tam 'o shanter will be left disappointed by the trailer for Black Mass, which leaves him utterly hatless.

For the rest of us, however, Depp's chrome dome in Black Mass is something of a relief. After a string of box-office failures, Black Mass is easily Depp's most promising movie in ages:

In the first look at Black Mass, which tells the true story of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger, Depp is appropriately menacing, leading a stellar cast that includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Joel Edgerton, Kevin Bacon, and Adam Scott.

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In theory, this is the closest Depp has come to a shot at an Oscar in at least a decade — but we won't know for sure until Black Mass arrives in September.