I haven't read (nor do I really know anything about, other than recalling seeing the title here and there) the Abraham Lincoln book, so I don't really have feelings one way or the other on that.  I might want to read it now, though   I don't think I'd have a problem with a public figure in an outlandish setting, as long as it was an intriguing and creative treatment (of course!)  But I could also see how it could turn out dumb.  And I really *don't* want DS to come off as dumb or buffoonish. 

The main reason I apologized for the double post was the quick timing- it seemed as if no sooner had I posted here than I got a news alert with the other article, and I thought, darn, too bad I didn't see this first so I could post both pieces together.  But the potential January start was certainly worth adding.  For what it's worth, Comingsoon.net is now saying the same thing about January, though I would feel more convinced of that if that info had been included in Variety.

Cathy

Some news today- Variety reports that Seth Grahame-Smith has been signed on as a writer for DS.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118021794.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

One could take this as bad news, in that it sounds like a setback.  But if the script really wasn't satisfactory, as it doesn't sound like it was, I think that it is good news that they are taking steps to overcome this obstacle.  This writer is already signed on for "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," so for better or worse, he's someone who likes doing vampire projects

Interestingly, the article says that Johnny is only attached as a producer at the moment.  I still believe that he wants to portray Barnabas, so I am guessing that if his involvement as the star is not official, that's just a formality.

Now I'm really interested to hear what if anything will be said about Mr. Grahame-Smith at the Fest.

Cathy

 I told myself I wouldn't be brought into these types of arguments again.  But the claim that DS is the only film that's been delayed is totally false.  The Rum Diary was on-again, off-again, for nearly a decade before it was finally filmed last spring.  Shantaram was about to start production three separate times, and is now in indefinite "turnaround".  I have a feeling it'll never get made.  Johnny may not even be attached to it anymore; I don't know.   A few years ago (before the DS announcement), he was also supposed to do another movie, Rex Mundi, fairly soon, and we haven't heard any updates on that film in ages.  At least we hear somewhat regular mentions of DS's status.  Even if it's not what you and I would like to hear, it's a heck of a lot better than many other In Development projects that Johnny has in the pipeline that seem to me MUCH further from the possibility of being done any time soon.

Let's hope that the Depp/DS film can also appeal to a similar percentage of the under 25 age demographic.

I don't think that is going to be possible.  Alice is rated PG and is very appealing to kids and tweens and teens- that helps a lot with the box office right there.  (Also, I think that kids don't care about reviews).  DS would probably be rated at minimum PG-13, and they may even go with an R rating, which is what Sweeney Todd and Sleepy Hollow had.  That will certainly diminish the numbers, and diminish the younger audience (though I am hoping that older teens and college kids, still under 25, will be into it).  I guess all I'm saying that I think that Alice is a different kind of movie with different goals than DS will be.  I am guessing that DS will have a much smaller budget, too, so it won't need to be a blockbuster to be successful.

I liked Alice a lot more than I thought I would, given the mixed reviews it got.  I don't feel it's one of Burton's strongest films, but it was very entertaining.  

Cathy

They can't draw up a realistic budget or schedule a shoot until they have a finished script. I'm very sure they want to do it right, and if that means more work needs to be done on the script, they really have no choice. A movie project like this is not simply a matter of contracting with a writer, the writer banging out a script, and the producers running with it to the studio. I think Burton and Depp have a very tricky situation on their hands--there are so many directions they could go with interpreting the base material, and so many of those directions could go way wrong. I'm just as impatient as the next guy, but I'm frankly relieved to hear that the delays appear to be due to trying to get it right.

Absolutely!

I'm not too fond of him, either, jimbo.  In this day of the internet, things can definitely be taken out of context, but it seems as if sometime back, someone took a direct quote from him, and he started backpedalling about how his words were misinterpreted.  But he never said he didn't say what was quoted, and the quote seemed pretty concrete, so it was pretty obvious that he goofed and was doing damage control.  Clarify if you said something wrong, but don't point fingers at people who are quoting you if YOU misspoke.  And he just seems a little too whiny about it all.

Bruckheimer is another shady one- he's still saying that the decision hasn't been made about Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly returning for Pirates 4, but they've both sounded pretty firm about not wanting to come back, and if they *did* return, the script would have to be changed drastically, so if they plan to start filming in June, they darn well have better have made that decision already.  They just don't want to say.

I think this is why for the most part, people are very tightlipped until they really have something concrete to announce.  We want information, but when we get it and then start getting all kinds of contradictions, maybe it'd be better off if we'd hear less   Even better would be if they could tell us very small pieces of information at a time, and be CLEAR about what they are saying, even if everything is still up in the air.

Cathy

FYI, it's the smallest of mentions, and Johnny doesn't even name the film as DS.  But for what it's worth, Johnny mentioned that he'd be working on another Tim Burton film, during a press conference at a film festival he attended in Serbia this past week.  You can watch the whole press conference here- it's 40 min.
http://www.webtv.rs/?cid=11920
But at about the 4 min. mark, someone asks him what is new on the horizon, and he replies, "There's some work to be done this year... I start a couple of films... another with Tim Burton" then goes on to talk about the following year, working on Pancho Villa with Emir Kusturica.  Considering that Kusturica is the host of the film festival and sitting next to him as he is speaking, of course he is going to spend more time talking about that film.  That said, even though I wish he would've elaborated a bit more, I'm really glad to hear the mention.  I'm hoping that there will be more info coming when they start doing press for Alice In Wonderland, which should be starting pretty soon 

I am puzzled by Gilliam's recent quote, and I wonder whether either 1) he misheard the question, or 2) Paste misheard the answer, because I also saw another very recent interview, recent enough to mention Robert Duvall cast as Don Quixote, where Gilliam said something like "now that Johnny is out of the picture." (sorry, I don't recall exactly where I saw it).  I have to confess that I really hope Johnny doesn't do it- it might've been great 10 years ago, but I think that ship has sailed.  Gilliam can be brilliant (I loved Brazil, 12 Monkeys, and several others of his films) but sometimes his stuff is a little much for me.  Johnny did some of his best acting in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, but it's a little tough for me to get through the film.  I recently saw The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus at a film festival here in Maryland, and it was a very interesting and promising film with beautiful visuals, but it didn't totally succeed IMHO (I'm glad I saw it, though, and hope to perhaps catch it again when it's in theaters).  Good point jimbo that Johnny is very loyal to many people he's worked closely with, so you never know.  I would also love for Johnny to work with Robert Duvall, but this isn't a project I'd choose for them (hmm, who could Duvall play in Dark Shadows?? 

I agree, Robot_Quentin, that Lost In La Mancha is a great and somewhat surreal film.  jimbo, if you find it to rent, see if you can get the 2 disc version- it has some extras including a 20 min. interview with Johnny from a couple of years later.  He tells some funny stories, including about the hail storm, and the fact that he and his longtime partner, French actress/singer Vanessa Paradis, really had misgivings about acting together (and still never have, except for a couple of music videos).