No one has answered this question yet.

The novel Rum Diary was written by American writer Hunter S. Thompson in the late fifties. However, it was not released until 1998, when Johnny Depp discovered the unpublished manuscript in the basement of Thompson's house, Owl Farm, in Woody Creek, Colorado. Depp was living with Thompson at the time in preparation for his role as Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) (1998). It was Depp who proved to be instrumental in getting The Rum Diary published.

He was written out of the script. The focus of the film was of necessity narrowed to give more anti-establishment attention to the self-serving shenanigans of the fat cats who seek to illegally develop the islands. Chenault, girl friend of Yeamon in the book, is Sanderson's girl friend in the film.

According to the American Humane Association, the organization that monitors films and television for animal cruelty: For the cockfighting scenes, trainers had rehearsed the birds individually and in pairs for weeks before filming. The roosters were equipped with special back/chest harness rigs, which were attached to an monofilament string and controlled by off-screen trainers. The distance each bird walked or flew was then controlled by the trainers so as not to let the birds touch but get very close to touching. The birds natural spurs (the sharp, claw-like projection on roosters legs) were filed down (a common practice to protect roosters from accidentally hurting each other) and a rubber spur was placed over the filed spur. These scenes were incredibly well-choreographed so as not to let the birds accidentally hit each other or cause any harm. Trainers used props to get the roosters to look, walk, or fly in certain directions. Non-toxic fake blood was also placed on some of the birds and removed after filming, and prop feathers were tossed into the air for dramatic effect. [Source]

No. Although based on a book written by the same author and both of the main characters are loosely based on the author, they are not intended to be the same characters.