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

[Mysterious Benefactor]

(Well, maybe John August wouldn't be such good news after all - I now see that he wrote the scripts for both Charlie's Angels movies - but he also wrote and directed The Nines. which I recall did get a fair amount of praise for being complex and thought provoking (something the CA scripts quite obviously weren't). I'll keep an open mind... But let's just hope he never confuses his DS script with the one he's supposedly writing concurrently for Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam!)

[Gothick]

Hmmm... Tim Burton is directing, and John August is writing the script... I foresee the Blue Whale madeover as a goth chick bar, with Maggie Evans now known as Margaretha, fronting a Siouxie and the Banshees tribute band, and being really into Barn's "deathly" vibe.

Wonder what the gaming component of the marketing will look like? 

Sardonically,

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I foresee the Blue Whale madeover as a goth chick bar, with Maggie Evans now known as Margaretha, fronting a Siouxie and the Banshees tribute band, and being really into Barn's "deathly" vibe.

Please don't give them ideas - at least not like that!     

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Interestingly, though certainly not surprisingly because once something like that gets posted on one site it gets picked up by others, the news of Tim Burton directing and John August writing the script is all over the Internet. Here are just a handful of links:

ComingSoon.net: Burton, August & Depp Reteam on Dark Shadows

BloodyDisgusting.com: Writer and Director Discovered for 'Dark Shadows'

AintItCool.com: Who's Directing Johnny Depp's DARK SHADOWS Movie??

DreadCentral.com: Burton on Dark Shadows Film?

ShockTillYouDrop.com: Burton, August Leap into Dark Shadows


Interestingly, AintItCool.com claims they've known of August's involvement for "a while now". Also interestingly, August has his own blog (http://www.johnaugust.com) that we might want to keep an eye on. 


If all this is true and the Fest was hoping to keep a lid on it until the Fest, well, so much for that idea...

[Nancy]

I was so hoping Tim Burton would sign on.  Wanna fresh angle on DS? He'll give it that.  I don't believe Burton will go campy on it. Depp has a definite reverence for the show at least it seems so from the interviews I've read.

Nancy

[madscntst]

I think that IESB has been pretty reliable, in my experience.  And ComingSoon usually only reports pretty reliable info.  Since this came from a named director, though I haven't seen the actual interview yet, it feels like solid information.  (Flimsy rumors are usually reported by unnamed "insiders".) 

Great point MB about keeping an eye on August's blog-- he may not give too many details in it, but we might be able to get a feel for the general status if he starts to discuss it.  I didn't realize that August wrote the Charlie's Angels movie     I didn't see that, but I'll try not to hold that one against him   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Many more sites are jumping on the bandwagon. This is probably the most interesting of the latest batch: Tim Burton to Direct 'Dark Shadows'?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yet another batch of new sites have popped up, and this one is interesting because, as well as reporting the news, it poses the question, "Does Dark Shadows have the makings of a great Tim Burton movie?" - and people are responding. Check out: Tim Burton and John August Developing Dark Shadows

[JS]

  More great news! Now we have a writer a director and a star. I will definitely keep watching this thread.  I'm not familiar with Tim Burton, Anyone know what he has written?

[JS]

Please disregard my last post. I should have clicked on the links provided by Mysterious Benefactor first and I wouldn't be asking stupid questions. I guess I just can't help it. I am so excited about all this good news that has been cooking for over a year and now it is finally coming true.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

No problem, JS. I suspect most of us can completely relate to your excitement. 

[JS]

I just typed in Dark Shadows at IMDB and it gives you the title and a release date of 2010. I was so hoping for at least 2009.

[GooberCollins]

I'll be honest here. I'm a big fan of Tim Burton, and I have most of his movies on DVD. That said, I hate his policy of filming American stories overseas with foreign actors that he started with Sleepy Hollow; there were at least a dozen major and supporting characters in that film, and if I remember correctly, only three were actually played by Americans (Depp as Crane, Christina Ricci as Katrina, and someone else I can't remember at the moment). Granted, this is Dark Shadows, where Quentin from New England speaks with a West Virginia accent, but it annoys me all the same. Also, though I love Burton's brand of dark comedy, I simply don't want that applied to Dark Shadows, at least not in huge amounts. If he films it here with a pinch of his trademark humor, local actors, and a lot of visual flair, I'll be pleased. If he uses a nearly all-British cast and/or overdoes the humor, I'll be disappointed.

However, one Brit I definitely wouldn't mind seeing involved (and if Burton is the director, it's a sure thing) is Helena Bonham Carter. Did anyone else think "Barnabas and Julia" during the wedding bit in Sweeney Todd?

[Gerard]

I don't know if this has been mentioned anywhere on our illustrious board (even in this thread), but most certainly the actress to play Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (or Naomi Collins) should be Helen Mirren.

Gerard

[jimbo]

Finally, someone threw us a bone. jk I would prefer to have these "rumors" substantiated by DCP. In fact perhaps DS movie producer David Kennedy of DCP will soon have something to say to us via Shadowgram.  Seems only fair to me.