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

[tragic bat]

This can be really good!  I just want to echo the hopes that they do not redo HODS.  What a long-running series like dark shadows needs is not to start at the beginning and introduce characters, but start when things are already in progress, already established, and build a story that is strongly inside the world using whatever characters from the entire length of the show that they desire to.  Personally I think a story with the non-adam/eve elements of 1968--Chris, Nicolas, and Angelique, thrown together with some seances, storms, ghosts, enchanted paintings, and reference to the Barnabas/Josette relationship would really make a good film. 

[madscntst]

I think I'd rather the new director stay true to Curtis's basic outlines/ideas rather than his vision in total. To walk such a fine line will take a rare talent, but I hold out hope that one will come along. Maybe Depp himself is the man for the job - ?

I think it's very unlikely that Johnny would direct.  He's only ever tried his hand at directing a feature film once, and it was a failure (a film that he also starred in called The Brave, in 1997- it's never been released in the US).  But even if it had done well, Johnny has spoken about how difficult and exhausting it was to do both.  Plus, for some strange reason he absolutely *hates* to look at himself on film (I can't imagine why- I don't mind seeing him on film, myself )  so I don't think he'd feel he could be objective.

I think there are other directors who might be a better fit for DS than Tim Burton, but I have to say that I'm beginning to change my mind after seeing the Sweeney Todd trailer, because I really like the look of that film so far.

Cathy

[Barnabas'sBride]

When I think of Sleepy Hollow with it's perfect gothic atmosphere, that's how I picture a big screen DS. The sort of style that Burton used for that film would make an amazing backdrop for the 1795 storyline......if it's more 'Sleepy Hollow' and less 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory', Burton could do well.

[retzev]

Helena Bonham Carter could make a nice Crazy Jenny...

[David]

Helena Bonham Carter could also be a sublime Countess Natalie.

David

[madscntst]

Just a small tidbit-- Johnny Depp will be on the cover of the next issue of Entertainment Weekly (the Nov. 9 issue) and there is a nice interview.  Johnny mostly speaks about Sweeney Todd, but at the end, there is a brief mention of DS:

And what about talk that you'd like to do a Dark Shadows feature, from Dan Curtis' old occult soap-opera TV series?
If that comes to fruition, that's a dream come true, man. Barnabas Collins — when I was a kid I wanted to be Barnabas.

Why him? Why a vampire?
I think a lot of kids did. He was super-mysterious, with that really weird hairdo and the wolf's-head cane. Good stuff.

See the whole interview on the Entertainment Weekly site:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20155516_20155530_20156283,00.html
(the mention is on page 5)

[jimbo]

Thanks madscntst for the article. It really sounds like Depp wants to do this movie. I was taken back just a little with his comment that "if that comes to fruition". I would think that he would be more positive about the DS project especially as he is listed as producer of the movie. I would think that he would have more of a role in the development of this movie and put more of an effort to actually make it happen.

[RachelDrummand]

I was put off by the fruition comment too. I really hope this comes to pass. Let DC's legacy live on! And please please add some cameos with the original and revival cast.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I can't say that phrasing really surprised me. In fact, it would be pretty much expected. As I said when this project was first announced, there are at least 101 things that need to happen before we'll ever see a finished film. At this point the film is still in early development, and any one of those 101 things not falling into place could potentially derail it. Many's the film that dies in development hell. And toss in the impending writers' strike when a script for the film hasn't even been completed and, well, that just pushes things further into the future than they already were, meaning more time for the potential for something to go wrong.

However, all that being said, that does not mean that Depp's DS film is doomed never to come out of development and to never see fruition. It just means that at this early stage it's still too early for everything to be a done deal, thus Depp speaking of the film as a much hoped for entity rather than as a certainty. Even as a producer Depp cannot control every aspect of development.

[madscntst]

Yeah, I think Johnny is just being cautious.  He's been in the business for 23 years, and he has seen a number of projects fall through, including two that fell through after filming started (Divine Rapture and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote).  But he is a man who is passionate about the things that interest him, and he also has more clout now than he has in the past.  I think he will work extremely hard for Dark Shadows because it is so beloved to him.

[Mark Rainey]

I seem to recall this place having shown up on this forum before, but I think with a little work it would make a smashing Collinwood for Johnny Depp. I don't like the idea of a CGI Collinwood, which is what I fear they might choose.

It's an abandoned girls' school in Millbrook, New York, I understand.



This site has some additional photos of the house for making e-cards:

The Chancery House

[Lydia]

Ooh, great place for Collinwood, Mark.

[RachelDrummand]

That would be a lovely place for Collinwood.

[arashi]

What a gorgeous house!

[Nelson Collins]

Beautiful fixer upper!! 

It reminds me of a bizarre cross between the original series' Collinwood (the tower on the right mainly) and Count Orlock's house in Wisbaden in Murnau's Nosferatu....