It's official: Dark Shadows returns as a film with Johnny Depp

[loril54]

http://tinyurl.com/yw4upr

A mention in a blog 2010? for the movie.

[Doug]

A mention in a blog 2010? for the movie.

I'm not surprise. I figure it would be around 2009 or 2010 for the movie to be out.

[loril54]

http://tinyurl.com/2jhcef

A mention of DS with clips. Mention of the new movie.

[PennyDreadful]

Aaah!!  If they DARE cast Madonna as Angelique I shall be forced to employ certain little dolls Angelique herself taught me to use.   *shudder* 

Nauseously,
Penny

 

[Gothick]

Madonna is my age, which means she's about 25 years too old to play Angelique.

Of course, they could still let her try to play Julia.  Or Liz.  *ducks*

*cue music*  "Like a ma-a--a-triarch ... with my hairpiece ... primped to shine, whoa-oh-whoa-oh..."

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Of course, they could still let her try to play ... Liz.  *ducks*

Yes! I can just picture Liz all decked out in a cone bra to greet Barnabas or Vicki. 

*cue music*  "Like a ma-a--a-triarch ... with my hairpiece ... primped to shine, whoa-oh-whoa-oh..."

Perfect for the DS musical! 


But to get serious again for just a minute, I keep meaning to post that it seems like Nancy Chandler of Jacksonville, Florida is our sort of person. When the Portage Daily Register asked people to submit questions they'd ask Johnny Depp if they caught him on the streets of Columbus, Wisconsin (where he's currently shooting Public Enemies), she wanted to ask: 'Are you still going do the "Dark Shadows" movie?' 

Check the article out: Putting Johnny on the spot -- dozens respond to Daily Register request: What one question would you ask Depp?
(And if you're a Depp fan, you might also want to check out: Depp back for more in Columbus today - but there are no references to DS in that one.)

[David]

Madonna can't act!!!!!!

David

[Doug]

Madonna can't act!!!!!!

I agree. I will be very disappointed if they cast madonna as Angelique. I don't like the idea of susan
sarandon as Elizabeth.

[madscntst]

Nothing too new here, but at least there's a mention on "Ask Flick Chick". 

Question: Is the Dark Shadows movie dead and, if not, is Johnny Depp still going to be in it? -- HCRD

FlickChick: Dark Shadows, a joint project between Johnny Depp's Infinitum-Nihil production company and producer Graham King's GK Films, is still in development, but it doesn't look as though a lot has gone on since mid-2007.

That's when they secured rights from the estate of Dan Curtis to base a movie on the 1966-1971 supernatural soap opera; Curtis developed the series, made two feature films based on it in the 1970s, and later went on to produce and direct a slew of supernatural films, mostly for TV. At this time, there's no screenwriter attached to the project, but it does have a distributor: Warner Bros.

Dark Shadows was briefly and unsuccessfully revised as a 1990s TV series, but there is a loyal fan base who could make a theatrical film successful, if – and only if – it got the tone and characters right. Depp is a longtime fan of the original series and would star as tormented vampire Barnabas Collins (originally played by Jonathan Frid), the show's most popular character. For my money, if anyone could make sure Dark Shadows got done right, it would be Depp. Fingers crossed.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tvguide/356538_flickchick26.html?source=rss

Well, at least the film has a distributor, if not a screenwriter... 

Cathy

[IluvBarnabas]

I thought Madonna had given up acting.

Definitely don't want to see her playing Angelique....she doesn't have the acting chops for it....in fact she doesn't have the acting chops for ANYTHING.

Would be interesting to see Johnny Depp play Barnabas though....it would be nice to see someone who had an appreciation for the show.

I read an article in TV Guide for the revival series in 1991....Ben Cross confessed that he had never seen the original show, nor did he have any desire to.  Then why the heck did he choose to appear in the show then?

I had my doubts about Depp at first, but now that I think about it, he might just pull it off. At least he was a fan
of the original DS....he might just do a better job of pulling off the role of Barnabas than Cross did.

[Brandon Collins]

I read an article in TV Guide for the revival series in 1991....Ben Cross confessed that he had never seen the original show, nor did he have any desire to.  Then why the heck did he choose to appear in the show then?

This is understandble to me. I'm sure you've heard of a situation before where a actor is stepping into a role in a remake of something, and they don't watch or study the original work by the original actor because they don't want to completely copy the original actors style. Cross probably was hinting at that as the reason why he didn't want to watch the original series.

[IluvBarnabas]

I've wondered if Cross ever bothered to give the orginal show a look since then.

[Nancy]

Well, why would it matter to Cross what someone before him had done with the role?  It's work.  The dynamic of the new Dark Shadows series was created by Dan Curtis and company and it was, from the outset, destined to be a different interpretation all around.   Cross' performance was as good as it could be with the script and the bizarre dyanmics (IMO) involved. 

I was in Boston with Jonathan Frid who was doing a series of one man shows at a Creation Con.  We went back to the hotel after the show and watched the new DS pilot.  Before the first commercial (if I recall correctly) Barnabas had killed several people before getting to Collinwood.  With the strange casting choice of Barbara Steele as Julia and making Willie an idiot, the dynamics of the series were very different.  It would not have served any purpose for Cross to have watched the oirignal show (IMO) before doing the role even if he wanted to see it.

Nancy

I read an article in TV Guide for the revival series in 1991....Ben Cross confessed that he had never seen the original show, nor did he have any desire to.  Then why the heck did he choose to appear in the show then?

[IluvBarnabas]

I hear what you guys are saying about an actor not wanting to duplicate another actor's approach in the same role. I can understand that...it would be too much like a copycat if the new actor duplicated every line and every move of his predecessor.

Cross did what he could...he wasn't a total washout, I'll say that for him. I mean I did enjoy his scenes with Joanna Going, who played Vicki in the 1991 series. But I still prefer Jonathan.

But I will give Johnny Depp a chance, assuming the movie is ever made.

[jimbo]

Nothing too new here, but at least there's a mention on "Ask Flick Chick".

Thanks Cathy for posting the article. It seems a bit odd to me that they have yet to agree on a screenwriter for the film. Maybe WB is finalizing the budget for the movie?  Not sure if a budget has to be set in order to hire a screenwriter. WB and the powers that be don't appear to be in any rush to get this movie project off the ground. But its always good to see DS in the media.
James