Something else that implies that it’s really in the works - on the movie review show “Reel Talk” with Jeffrey Lyons and Alison Bailes, at the end of the show each gives a commentary. Last weekend Jeffrey Lyons said,
“My final take this week deals with the recent announcement that Johnny Depp has been attached, as they say in the trade papers, to star in a movie version of Dark Shadows, that’s the campy vampire show which ran live afternoons on ABC from 1966 to 1971. I watched it religiously.” [By this point they are showing the opening picture with the waves and the name Dark Shadows, then a glimpse of Joan, I think from the first episode when she goes to the window while awaiting Vicki’s arrival, and a couple other little bits.]
“The series focused on a reclusive woman played by 40s star Joan Bennett and a vampire named Barnabas Collins played by Jonathan Frid, a Canadian actor. I only hope that somehow Depp and his collaborators do justice to the original series, which to this day has a loyal fan base. Maybe the surviving cast members, including Frid, will be available for cameos. And who better than Johnny Depp to portray a vampire in Collinsport, Maine?”
[Then, turning towards Alison and speaking more conversationally] "My favorite part of the show was when the actors would forget their lines and they’d have to look at the cue cards; it was so obvious; it was campy and it was delightful. We’ll see.”
Alison replied, “I haven’t seen it, but I’d see Depp in anything as long as he’s not a pirate.”