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

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Realize also that even if they couldn't see the movie, they could've voted for Johnny anyway.

You mean to say people lie in polls and vote on issues they actually know nothing about? I'm shocked - shocked, I tell you!! 

   (Although, we shouldn't joke about it because it's hardly a laughing matter in a lot of cases.)

[Pansity]

But how do you feel about the gambling going on in Rick's Cafe? <g,d,r>

Jeannie

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yet another report that Depp will be doing Alice in Wonderland with Burton: Silver Screen Musings
(Scroll down almost to the bottom to 9th the item.)

One thing that's most fascinating about this one, though, is that it presents Depp's role as the Mad Hatter as pretty much fact when, as the Tim Burton Collective has pointed out, no official or credible source has ever confirmed it as such, yet it treats the notion that Depp will play Barnabas in the DS film as rumor when that at least has a lot more credible info around to back it up.    The report also says that the Alice and DS films will both be released in 2010. A release date of March 5, 2010 has at least been indicated for Alice, but perhaps they're consulting their crystal ball for DS because there's still no word from any completely reliable source as to when it will actually be released (or even when it will go into production). (But then, there's very little info at all that comes from completely reliable sources.) Though, of course, lack of reliable info rarely seems to prevent many of these sites from grabbing onto a story and running with it if competing sites are already running with it because one assumes that the thing that would be even worse for them than getting the story wrong would be for them to look like somehow they've been left out of the loop...

[madscntst]

Oh yeah, they'd much rather report something incorrect than nothing at all.  And then later they can always report a correction, and get twice the attention 

This isn't relevant to DS, but this sort of thing goes on all the time regarding Johnny in general-- for instance, marriage rumors and house-hunting rumors crop up every couple of months.  Goes with the territory

Anyway, Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the Mad Hatter rumor is "confirmed" by a "very well-informed source."
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/08/johnny-depp.html 
At least EW is a step or two more reliable than Contact Music, but it's still no Variety announcement.  Since they'll be starting to film soon, I'm guessing that an announcement would have to come pretty soon.

I still wish there would just be some kind of official status report on DS, even if they only said that it's still in the early planning stages.

Cathy

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Ah, so the part in Wonderland will all be stop-animation. Well, that would probably mean that if Depp is indeed playing the Mad Hatter, he'll merely be providing his voice to the role as he did with Corpse Bride, and if so that would mean he wouldn't need to spend all that much time on the project so it would be very easy for him to fit it into his schedule.

[jimbo]

It seems this writer is not too fond of the return of the vampire genre-apparently from a Rolling Stone magazine article-mentions DS movie briefly

Column: Vampires wedge back into pop culture

[GooberCollins]

I agree that it seems the world has gone far too vamp-crazy. I don't watch the "vampire" shows that I love (and I do mean love; I consider BtVS my favorite TV show ever) because of the vampires. I watch DS not because Barnabas is a vampire, but because he is but one of a large cast of compelling, (mostly) well-written characters. The same with Buffy; I watch these shows for their quality of writing. I have read a lot of vampire fiction (and yes, Twilight, at least in my opinion, is as bad as that editor says; in fact, some of my attempts to get people interested in Buffy have failed because they adore Twilight so much and are unwilling to try anything else. I have a couple of other vampire fiction nitpicks that I won't mention because I know that one of them was quite popular on here), and nothing has been able to draw me in like Buffy and DS. I've read the first two Anne Rice books, as well; they're very good books, but not really my thing (of course, it's been a couple years since I read them, so a re-reading may be in order; I've started looking at fiction very differently in those two years).

What I'm trying to reach here is that I do think that a lot of people will go crazy for any vampire story, regardless of whether it's good or not. But the editor is quite right in pointing out that there is good fiction dealing with vampires available.

[Zahir]

Me, I like vampire stories.  That doesn't mean I'm indiscriminate about them.  I really wanted to like Moonlight for example, but the whole thing was just too saccharine.  The premise is a perfectly good one--guilt-ridden vampire with a human love interest, seeking redemption from his personal darkness.  But whereas Barnabas had murdered/enslaved family and friends, Nick Knight had gone around killing people for 700 years, Angel was trying to live down almost two centuries of deliberately artistic sadism, this guy was "dealing" with not telling everyone he was a vampire for several decades (but he'd never killed anyone for their blood, or tortured an enemy, etc.).  Bleh.  So his inner darkness consists of not telling people a very personal secret--a secret he actually does spill to someone in the first three episodes or so?

But there as some good vampire flicks/shows on the horizon.  Saw an early screening of True Blood (which premiers in September on HBO) and it looks very good (the producer also did Six Feet Under).  I quite enjoyed 30 Days of Night, although I missed knowing more about the vampires themselves.

Plus there's this rumor Tim Burton is going to direct Johnny Depp as a nosferatu.  Maybe you heard?   

[Taeylor Collins]

Really?  Well Good Lord how many movies is he gonna make before Shadows?

[Brandon Collins]

I read last year or a few years ago that vampires were a thing of the past and were on the way out as far as storytelling goes, because there were so many vampire stories out there that the market was heavily weighed down and becoming too populated. But it seems like that article was wrong because with the upcropping of vampire tinged things here lately, it seems like vamps are still in style. I mean, you have Twilight (which I just read and thought it was pretty good, though the fourth book is getting horrible reviews), True Blood, the new DS remake, Buffy and Angel comics, Moonlight (which was cancelled, but it was still a vampire show), and shows like Supernatural that have featured vampires.

[GooberCollins]

Me, I like vampire stories.  That doesn't mean I'm indiscriminate about them.

Same here. I just find it annoying when people consider something 800% better if it has vamps in it.

I really wanted to like Moonlight

And there's the pet peeve I wasn't going to mention unless someone else brought it up.

Plus there's this rumor Tim Burton is going to direct Johnny Depp as a nosferatu.  Maybe you heard?   

What movie is that? It sounds like it might be good.

Twilight (which I just read and thought it was pretty good, though the fourth book is getting horrible reviews)

Just to clarify, in my earlier post, I meant no offense to anyone who did like Twilight. I just personally didn't enjoy the book. Though I don't consider it good, I don't think it's particularly bad, either; I've just gotten flamed by rabid fans for expressing my opinion of the book on The Nightmare Board that I've mentioned before, which has unfortunately colored my opinion of the books themselves.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Just a gentle reminder that this is a topic devoted to a discussion about the Depp/DS film's progress and development and the factors surrounding it. Discussing other vampire films (or tv shows or books) in general terms as they might relate to the film is perfectly fine, but please don't get into specific likes or dislikes regarding other vampire incarnations and/or discuss them independent of the Depp/DS film.    For this particular topic that's going too OT.

However, anyone who might like to discuss other vampire incarnations and discuss their specifics versus DS' specifics is not only completely free but welcomed to create a topic to do so. 

[GooberCollins]

Yes, sorry, attempting to get back on topic now. I've been (far) more than a little stupid with a lot of my posts lately.

I do find it strange how (unless I've missed something) neither Burton nor Depp has confirmed or denied that they're working on the movie.

[Taeylor Collins]

Hey we all make mistakes Goober!  We all need reminders from time to time and that is why we have our fantabulous Mods~~ Midnite and MB.   It would be really be nice to get a conformation about when Shadows will be worked into Johnny D's schedule.  I for one am terribly impatient and since I haven't seen the 2004 pilot I need a new DS "FIX".  But the original Shadows & 1991 Shadows Dvd's and HODS and NODS  will tide me over 'cause they are ALL  just as glorious as any new movie will be.  I support DS in all incarnations....Past, Present, Future and of course Parallel Time![ghost_wink]  I will now march over to the addict post....   

[GooberCollins]

I do wonder what DS is like in Parallel Time. XP It was probably a Latin American telenovela. But I'm going OT again.

It just seems that Depp is appearing in every movie except DS over the next two years, and it's possible that Burton won't do it if he can't get Depp. As long as Burton respects the source material, I'm perfectly happy with him as the director, though.