Black Mass full trailer: Watch an unrecognisable Johnny Depp play notorious US gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger

Could the film prove a box office hit for Depp after years of flops?

An unrecognisable Johnny Depp in Black Mass (Warner Bros)

Johnny Depp has started making good films again, judging by the first full trailer for Black Mass.

After a recent mixed-bag of let-downs including Transcendence and The Lone Ranger, it looks like Black Mass delivers a fine return to form for the 52-year-old actor.

The film sees Depp star as notorious US criminal James "Whitey" Bulger alongside an impressive cast including Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons and Kevin Bacon.

Set in the Seventies in South Boston, the drama tells the story of the unholy alliance between FBI Agent John Connolly and Bulger after he persuades the Irish mobster to collaborate with the FBI.

Based on a true story directed by Scott Cooper, the film shows what happens when Bulger was allowed to evade law enforcement while consolidating his power and becoming one of the most ruthless and dangerous gangsters in Boston history.

Warning spoilers: In 2011, Whitey was arrested aged 81 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prisons for 19 counts of murder, racketeering, narcotics distribution and exortion.

Black Mass is released in cinemas in the UK on 13 November.