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

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It seems a bit odd to me that they have yet to agree on a screenwriter for the film.

Selecting a screenwriter is a very important part of any film's development (well, unless the script was already written before the film was ever pitched to the studio  ). I'd much rather that WB, Depp, King, et al. give the choice very careful consideration than simply hand it over to just anyone.    (And truthfully, many films go through multiple screenwriters because the first, second, third or even farther along doesn't quite get everything right when it comes to what TPTB are looking for. But let's hope the Depp/DS film doesn't have to go down that road and that the first screenwriter does indeed end up being their perfect choice.)

[jimbo]

It seems a bit odd to me that they have yet to agree on a screenwriter for the film.

Selecting a screenwriter is a very important part of any film's development (well, unless the script was already written before the film was ever pitched to the studio  ). I'd much rather that WB, Depp, King, et al. give the choice very careful consideration than simply hand it over to just anyone.    (And truthfully, many films go through multiple screenwriters because the first, second, third or even farther along doesn't quite get everything right when it comes to what TPTB are looking for. But let's hope the Depp/DS film doesn't have to go down that road and that the first screenwriter does indeed end up being their perfect choice.)

I absolutely agree with you MB on the importance of choosing the right screenwriter. My opinion is merely based on a very limited knowledge of how the film industry operates. It just seems to me that TPTB has had ample time (six months or so) to choose a writer. I do realize that there was a writer's strike in that time period. But still it just appears to me that things should  move a little faster than it is presently.  Hopefully WB has high hopes for this project. I also just wish that WB gives the greenlight on the NODS restoration project. They seem to be dragging its feet on that project as well.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's not at all unusual for it to sometimes take a long time for a screenwriter to be chosen. It's also not unusual for the development phase of a movie to take years. I know we'd much prefer that not to be the case with the Depp/DS film - but it is possible. 

And knowing the way WB operates, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they're waiting to greenlight the NoDS restoration until after the Depp/DS film is out of development and on its way to production. They're no doubt figuring the new film will bring publicity to all the versions of DS and they can parlay that into hopefully greater sales for the DVD. Studio execs think that way - especially when they get it into their heads that they can probably save big on the DVD's promotion budget by somehow piggybacking it with the film's promotion.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

This is interesting: jimbo pointed me to fearnet.com (the horror movie database) and they're listing Dan Daniels as the writer of the Depp/DS film: Horror A-Z: Dark Shadows Though where they may have gotten that info is anyone's guess - and I don't have any idea if the site is generally reliable because I've never actually visited the site before tonight. I did a search of Variety.com, though, and unless it somehow didn't come up, they've never reported the attachment of Mr. Daniels to the film. In fact, the only Dan Daniels who comes up in a search works as a film sound engineer. And odder still, the only Dan Daniels who comes up on IMDB .com is an actor/writer who appeared in the '96 film Expect No Mercy and who wrote the '66 French Canadian film Footsteps in the Snow.    Though who's to say that even that man is the same Dan Daniels as the one supposedly writing the Depp/DS film?    Dan Daniels seems like it could be a very common name, and the one who may have been hired to write this film could have been hired based on work that he's done outside the film industry. I suppose only time will tell...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

OK - now we're getting into REALLY odd territory that would definitely seem to put the above info into complete doubt. For the fun of it, I just did a search on fearnet.com for Dan Daniels, and what also comes up besides the Depp/DS film is the '91 series - and according to the site's listing for that, Dan Daniels was a director, a writer, and a producer on the show: Horror A-Z: Dark Shadows. Um, not quite. In fact, every one of those listings should actually be Dan Curtis. And one thing I think we can say with almost absolute certainty is that Dan Curtis will not be writing the Depp/DS film...

[jimbo]

OK - now we're getting into REALLY odd territory that would definitely seem to put the above info into complete doubt. For the fun of it, I just did a search on fearnet.com for Dan Daniels, and what also comes up besides the Depp/DS film is the '91 series - and according to the site's listing for that, Dan Daniels was a director, a writer, and a producer on the show: (URL)
. Um, not quite. In fact, every one of those listings should actually be Dan Curtis. And one thing I think we can say with almost absolute certainty is that Dan Curtis will not be writing the Depp/DS film...

I was hesitant to post this information as something did not seem right and I preferred to get this confirmed first. I had sent an email to that website awaiting a confirmation of the facts. Yes it does seem that Dan Daniels is one of the best kept secrets in Dark Shadows history-jk. It would be really funny if a Dan Daniels is indeed the writer for the DS movie. I'll keep you posted if I hear from the website in any event.  I think said website should immediately correct this apparent misinformation.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I hate to say it, but I strongly suspect that it's a case that someone over there has a weird sense of humor because subsequent searches have brought up Dan Daniels in place of Dan Curtis in several of DC's productions. And unless someone also checked out those other listings (which the casual reader most probably would not), they would easily take it on face value that Mr. Daniels is actually the screenwriter for the Depp/DS film.

Yet more evidence that it's frequently best to take much of what's on the Internet with a grain of salt. 

[jimbo]

I think websites have an obligation to report the facts and not intentionally/unintentially insult the integrity of someone like the legendary Dan Curtis if they want to be considered as an official news source. It seems they made a fool of us fans in the process.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Sadly, seemingly some Internet venues' sole reasons for being are to report erroneous info and to twist the facts whenever possible. The people behind them actually get off on it - and the more twisted the info, the more they get off. 

[jimbo]

Sadly, seemingly some Internet venues' sole reasons for being are to report erroneous info and to twist the facts whenever possible. The people behind them actually get off on it - and the more twisted the info, the more they get off. 

That is truly very sad MB. Just hope that they will correct this misinformation and that it is not picked up on the UPI ticker. lol

[LOOKE300]

IS anything ever going to come of this its been like 9 months and not one new thing about this suppose film. is johney depp  comiited to this or was it just a passing fancy At least when the new tv show was planed there was a lot of news about it even though nothing came of  it.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I think we can all relate to your frustration, LOOKE300. But a TV pilot and a movie happen very differently. With a TV pilot development moves fairly quickly because it has to be cast and produced (and sometimes even written) within a short window of a limited amount of months so that it will be ready for a network to watch and decide if they want to pick it up as a series on their next schedule. With a movie, though, development can and often does last years. And factor in the writers' strike and the fact that Depp already had a few movies in the development pipeline ahead of the DS film, and it's not really surprising that not much has moved ahead on the DS film yet. However, in interviews Depp has said that he is committed to the film and he hopes it will be made.

[Brandon Collins]

MB is right. This could take a very long time. The writers strike certainly put things behind, and with Depp's schedule, and being so in demand, he definitely has several projects lined up, one of which, Shantram I think, keeps getting canned, then being greenlit again.

Just some food for thought:

The new "Speed Racer" movie that the Wachowski brothers are helming, is from produced Joel Silver, who says he's been shopping around the movie idea, trying to get it off the ground, for 20 YEARS! And then he finally found the right time, place, and people to bring it to life.

Alternatively, either the WB or Marvel (can't remember which off hand) is/was planning a Wonder Woman movie, which would help to kickstart the Justice League of America movie they're trying to get off the ground. Joss Whedon was attached to the WW project, to write the script, and after a year of working on it, he and the production company parted ways. Then the JL movie was canceled, so the WW project could take front and center, and last I've heard, the WW film is in the can, and they're trying to bring about JL all on its own.

So, as you can see, things don't really stay the same, or even in pre-pre-production for very long sometimes before things change. I think we're not going to hear much about the DS film until after 2010, and the film probably won't come out until sometime between 2010-15.

[jimbo]

It does seem that the new DS movie is stuck in Development Hell where many movies never escape from. I still believe that not hiring a screenwriter at this juncture is a very disturbing sign as to the direction the project is heading which is nowhere as of this writing.  Certainly we would all agree that TPTB does not consider this DS movie a priority. On March 2, Shadowgram indicated that a writer was soon to be announced. I am fully aware now of the importance of hiring the right screenwriter. However, something is just not right here. The upcoming Fest is advertised still at its website that we are celebrating the release of the two DS theatrical movies on DVD plus preparations for the new DS movie. It's unclear if the DVDs will be released this year and that it appears that we won't know anything about the movie at the time of the Fest. I was told that some of Depp's projects are on shaky ground and that DS could emerge to replace some of his shaky projects if the DS movie gets out of development hell. So this could turn around real fast. Let's hope that it does.

[Gothick]

Wasn't the Spiderman movie project in endless development for something like 20 years?  I remember articles about the project in the mid 90s and the articles then said that it had already been through several attempted scripts.  Sorry, but hiring a screenwriter means nothing in today's madcap Hollywood. 

I figure they have about ten years to play with before Depp starts to get too long in the tooth to play Barnabas--possibly a bit longer given how fantastic Depp's skin looks at his current age.

The main reason why *I* would like to see the Depp project bear fruit sooner than later is that I have this suspicion that without the big profile of the Depp project to push their insect-like mental faculties into action, TPTB are going to keep the hoDS/NoDS restoration project and DVD release on hold FOREVER.

G.