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

[JS]

I am not sure where I saw it, maybe I just dreamed it. But I could have sworn that I had seen a photo of Johnny Depp as Barnabas with our old Barnabas' hair style. Has anyone else come across this photo?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've seen that photo too, JS, but unfortunately I didn't take note of what site it was on.    You might try checking out the links in this topic because it could be one of them. But if not, try googling something like "Depp Dark Shadows". Dozens of sites will come up, and it'll require a lot of trial and error, but you'll probably find the photo - at least eventually. 

One site I did take note of was this one featuring Depp with fangs: Johnny Depp the next `Dark Shadows` vampire?
(BTW, the previous link to this article in reply #12 no longer works because the article has now been archived.)

And I still haven't quite gotten over the title of this one: Johnny Depp to Wear His Own Clothes in ‘Dark Shadows’ Movie    But like Barnabas would be going around Collinsport dressed like that? Not!   

[B.Collins]

johnny depp to wear his OWN Clothes in film? really? i thought he was going to go stark naked. which i don't know about you buut i don't want to see that. the ladies MIGHT well they prolly wouldn't mind. hehe buut i don't want to see that. good title though. & anyways what is the status of the film anyways? the D.S. Journal hasn't updated his site since last august!  which is RARE For him he doesn't normally go THIS Long without updating it. soo i haven't heard anything SINCE they announced last year that they were going to make it. i didn't even KNOW That they had pics of him already in make-up!  IF you look on the IMBD the film isn't even on his list of films he's planning on doing. at LEAST NOT yet.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It just struck me that perhaps we should go back to the notion from the '04 pilot days that Barnabas could be dressed like this ():

Check out this topic for the original context:

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I could have sworn that I had seen a photo of Johnny Depp as Barnabas with our old Barnabas' hair style.

This is probably not the photo you're thinking of (it's not the one I was thinking of), but thanks to just rereading the entire topic that I linked to above, I rediscovered that Stuart Manning had posted a picture of Depp with "Barnabas hair" here on the forum (he'd created it for collinwood.net):

And I know - it IS shocking that I forgot something that had been posted on the forum. But hey, I'm only human, so I can only recall 99.99% of what's been posted. 

[JS]

Thanks, I believe that was the photo. 

[jimbo]

Very brief acknowledgement of David Kennedy and Depp's Dark Shadows.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117988578.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, hopefully this is good news:

AFTRA Ratifies New Deal
Union approves new contract, thwarting SAG's campaign and making strike more unlikely

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Or maybe not:

Producers: SAG's Rejection of Final Offer "Puts Labor Peace at Risk"

Though at least at this point it still seems unlikely that there will be an actors' strike, so SAG's continued wranglings shouldn't delay progress of the Depp/DS film

[JS]

That is great news indeed. I was beginning to get concerned about that.    We sure don't need any hold ups. We've been waiting too long now already.

[Taeylor Collins]

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[jimbo]

I am just throwing this out there.... Dark Shadows' movie writer John August posted this at his . com website today. He may be referring to DS or he may not be. I hear that producers typically ask for revisions so there is no shock here. You can read the whole article at www.johnaugust.com

"Coincidentally, I’m going through the same thing right now on a project I’m writing. I’ll be spending three days doing revisions I’m pretty sure won’t work, but that’s the best way to demonstrate to everyone why they won’t work. The silver lining is that the process of doing these failed revisions may inadvertently create some good material that will be helpful in other parts of the script."

[Mysterious Benefactor]

August has also been working on the script for Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam, so he could be referring to that one. But even if he is referring to the Depp/DS script, that's not necessarily a bad thing. If fact, if it is DS, he indicates that it's quite likely it's the producers (as Tim Burton is supposedly not officially on board yet) who are asking for the rewrites, so if it's David Kennedy, Graham King, or Depp, or any combination thereof who's asking for changes, that would be a good thing because it would mean they're doing their jobs. And as August himself says, the rewriting process may "create some good material that will be helpful in other parts of the script" - and that can never be a bad thing. I would actually be more concerned if those three producers (but especially Depp) aren't injecting their input into the script's writing process. And considering some of the other scripts that August has been responsible for, I might actually be inclined to think the producers (though especially Depp) would be more likely to get the script right than August might. But that might just be me because, quite frankly, I think the scripts for both Charlie's Angels movies were awful...

[jimbo]

Yes it could very well not be the DS script he was referring to. The last online Shadowgram indicated that it was still being written. I also agree that if he was referring to the DS script, that its a good sign that the producers are showing a great deal of interest in attempting to improve the script. That being said it is interesting that August's position on producer's asking for rewrites, that he knows it won't work and that it is his intention on proving them wrong. Perhaps that comment is taken out of context.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Under different circumstances, I would probably agree with August. I would certainly agree with him when it came to some of the changes DC imposed on the DS writers. (Though at least once in a while the writers won the argument (for example, making Barnabas a sympathetic vampire rather than all-out evil) and the show was much better for it.) It's just that in this particular circumstance my perceptions are reversed due to fears based on the characteristics of the scripts August has come up with in the past. Though that could be a totally unfair perception given that the same man who produced the awful Charlie's Angels scripts was also capable of producing a wonderful script for The Nines.

I suppose only time and a bit more info than a few remarks in a blog will tell...