Johnny Depp is holding open auditions to find screenwriters for his latest movie.

The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star will play surrealist painter Salvador Dali in new film 'Dali' and is keen to get the right script, regardless of who it comes from.

A source said: "He's open to working with anyone - from housewives to pensioners - if the script is right."

Depp is not the only Hollywood star set to portray the eccentric artist on the big screen.

Al Pacino and Peter O'Toole are being lined up to star in rival movies, 'Dali and I' and 'Goodbye Dali' respectively.

Asked why so many films were being made 18 years after the artist's death, Peter Rawley, producer of 'Dali', said: "Film-makers somehow pick up on the vibe. But three films is nothing, at one stage, we counted up to nine."

Dali - who died in 1989, aged 84 - was famed for his technical genius as well as his showmanship and once gave a lecture dressed in a diver's suit. His most famous works include 'The Persistence of Memory', 'The Face of Mae West', 'The Metamorphosis of Narcissus' and 'The Temptation of St. Anthony'.