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

Again, there are always a lot of rumors about Johnny appearing in upcoming movies, and only a small fraction will really come true.  Of current rumors, my odds for whether they'll happen, at least any time soon (these are only my own feelings and not based on any inside knowledge}:

-Mad Hatter/Alice In Wonderland: 90%.  The rumors have been strong even before the recent press; I just have a feeling about this one.  But I think this would only be a small role.
-Lindsay/Shantaram: 75%.  Someone who claims to be involved in this production has posted to IMDb that Johnny still intends to star in the film.  The previous comments by the Infinitum Nihil representative were misquoted or taken out of context.  That said, there's still been no news on this film in awhile, but it WAS going to be his next project.
-Barnabas/Dark Shadows: 70%.  This is a solid project; it's just a matter of when it might happen.
-Toby/The Man Who Killed Don Quixote: 15%. Terry Gilliam is being optimisitc to think he can get this film together any time soon.  Could happen, though.
-Paul Kemp/Rum Diary: 10%.  Johnny wants to do this, but I think the film is jinxed, and nearly everyone thinks he's getting too old to play the character
-Riddler/Batman sequel: 5%.  Not impossible but I think this one was just made up
-Tommy Lee/Tommy Lee biopic: 0%.  Tommy Lee's wishful thinking.  No way would this ever happen.

Johnny is not filming now and he has no films coming out this whole year.  He is publicity shy as it is, so there aren't likely to be any major interviews until next year, when The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Public Enemies come out.  So, chances that anyone will be able to quote him about Dark Shadows are pretty sliim right now, unless we're lucky.  Tim Burton might be more likely to speak about DS if he gets interviewed about Alice.  Remember that regardless of Johnny's itinerary, if Burton is really going to direct, his schedule is going to have to be free, too.  And directors often need a larger chunk of time than actors (if they're involved in editing and other post-production).

'Course, it'd be great if the studios or Johnny's publicist could just throw us a bone 

Cathy

Madscntst I think we got kind of spoiled with the media and Shadowgram providing us with what seemed like a daily progress report on the 2004 WB pilot. Things do move much faster on television pilots but it was a pleasure learning who was writing the script, when it was completed, the casting announcements....etc.... The producers of this DS movie are treating the details of this project like it was a top secret military mission. I don't know if it is because nothing is happening which I doubt. I don't think it is outrageous to ask when this filmed may be filmed. You are right that they should throw us a bone here and there. I don't think we will get anything from JP's side of the house. I guess we will have to wait until someone slips up again and that is sad. Regarding Depp, from a DS sellfish point of view, I am hoping that he does not star in Shantaram in the context that it may push back the filming of the DS movie. Hopefully we will perhaps get some news from his representatives as to what his next confirmed projects are.

Regarding that article I recently posted about how the writer believed the vampire genre was dwindling and almost off the radar, well obviously as other cousins posted here, that is far from the present reality.

Well, as I and other posters and SG warned at the outset when the film was first announced:

...we definitely need to note that this project is still in development. ... And it's going to be a much slower process than the WB pilot, which went from announcement to completion of shooting in less than six months. The process here is likely to be a loooong one - especially when, as Variety reports, Depp already has other projects in the pipeline...

And, of course, the writers' strike didn't help one bit. But I'm not really surprised that news about the film is coming out is small bits and pieces because that tends to be the way things work with most films. Items trickle out until the studio and/or producers decide, usually based on their marketing strategy, that the time is right to release info. Studios and producers tend to really hate premature news leaks because they want the publicity surrounding a film to remain fresh in the potential audience's mind and to build with each announcement so that that audience is really anticipating the release of a film. Is it frustrating to have to wait until they ultimately decide the time is right? It sure is! But we really have no alternative but to be patient. Someone will feed us another morsel or two sooner or later. 

Seriously, I'm used to waiting long periods of time for info on upcoming projects. I was waiting for information on a game once. The game was announced in early 2006 and no details beyond the incredibly basic were given until last month.

I am hoping that the film does turn out decently, though. Burton is a good filmmaker, but I'd be a bit worried about what any director was going to do with DS.

I don't know that it's so much that they're "keeping it secret" (though that could be true, too) as that they simply don't feel obligated to give progress reports about something that is still under development.  We already know that John August is writing the script and that as things stand now, Tim Burton is directing.  That is pretty good info for now.  I would love a hard confirmation from Johnny himself that he will star as Barnabas and that he hopes to bring something cool to the part.  But other than that, there's probably not much else to tell at this point.  Whatever other preliminary work they may be doing right now- I dunno, scouting locations?  Designing costumes?  could probably change drastically if they decide to change the script from whatever August is writing right now.   All kinds of things might fall through or change completely from the original plans. So, I think it's pretty normal that we're only hearing things in bits and pieces.  That said, if we do ever get to hear more, that'd be icing on the cake!

Cathy

Here is a very encouraging response by TV Guide's Matt Roush to a question posed by a very strange individual named James. lol

http://www.tvguide.com/ask-matt

jimbo

That Matt is a DS fan is a given. (And that this "James" loves to pose questions to him about DS is more than a given.  ) But I love that Matt says the film has "the opportunity to completely ... reinvent the notion of an erotically charged (I'm hoping) Gothic vampire soap" and that it "has an almost blank canvas to work upon." Hopefully TPTB behind the film are approaching the story with a fresh perspective and are unafraid to make changes rather than trying to get as much of what has gone before into the story with but a few changes here and there. The former approach could make for a fascinating film even though it would most probably irk the segment of fandom who'll often say they want something new but who, when it really comes down to it, will complain about everything that's even slightly different. But one thing we really have to remember is that the film is mostly being made to bring a new audience to DS. So long as the film remains faithful to the spirit of DS and, as Matt opines, "some of the more iconic trappings of the original series are adhered to," the film will indeed be DS even if it turns out to be a somewhat different DS than we're used to seeing.

That "James" is something else. I guess he is the type of person who wants to keep DS alive in the media. Just guessing of course.  But in all seriousness, based on what Matt has said here and what MB mentions, I think we may be incredibly surprised how much the new movie script is going to deviate from let's say the 1991 approach and the WB's pilot.  Are we ready to be shocked?  I don't see Burton directing nor August writing a story that has been repeated three or four times without a substantial deviation that appeals to today's times.

I'm looking forward to seeing Depp's/Burton's/August's new take on DS -- I think it should be quite interesting; and with Depp's huge fan base I don't see how this movie can lose!

-Lindsay/Shantaram: 75%.  Someone who claims to be involved in this production has posted to IMDb that Johnny still intends to star in the film.  The previous comments by the Infinitum Nihil representative were misquoted or taken out of context.  That said, there's still been no news on this film in awhile, but it WAS going to be his next project.

Acording to this interview (Chunky’s tired of travelling) with actor Chunky Pandey, who apparently has/had some sort of involvement with the film, Shantaram is "in cold storage." Bad news for Mr. Pandey. But potentially good news for us and the DS film if true.

Hmmm - this just might be Depp's next movie: Johnny Depp’s ‘Rex Mundi’ Has Its Script, Now Looking For Director

And it's probably worth noting that this report mentions that Depp purchased the rights to Rex Mundi back in '06: Johnny Depp's 'Rex Mundi' Has Script, Needs Director, which just goes to show that the DS film is basically on the same track time wise so far as development of its script might go (though supposedly it already has Burton waiting in the wings to act as director).

Yeah, I saw several news articles about Rex Mundi today.  I mentioned Rex Mundi a few pages back... let's see... page 30 of this thread.  If you remember the interview with the rep from Johnny's production company, Rex Mundi was the one film that the rep said Johnny planned to star in (causing all sorts of panic about whether Johnny would star in Shantaram). 

I was a little surprised (but happy) to see this sudden info- I knew there was a script being written but didn't know that it was so far along- they are making it sound as if Johnny has approved it.  I suppose it's possible that this film could be done more quickly than I thought, but I guess we have to wait and see.  For what it's worth, I have read the first 2 of the Rex Mundi graphic novels (there have been 4 or 5 published), and at least the way the graphic novels are written, it doesn't seem to me to be the type of film that would require a very long shoot or special effects or anything.  I could be wrong, though, since they did said that they were going to change the story. 

Agh, so many ifs!

Cathy

Interesting that according to its co-producer Levine, that WB is "pretty excited" about the Rex Mundi project. It would be nice if we heard from one of DS producers' that WB is "pretty excited" about the DS project as well.

First a James, now a Jamie. Hmmm... But here's yet another question posed about when we might see the Depp/DS film:

Ask Stacy
(Scroll down about a third of the page)

Though who knows where she got the idea that the rights deal closed in January '07 when Variety clearly indicated back at the end of July of that year that it had "just closed"? She's apparently also unaware that Shantaram is supposedly "in cold storage". And nowhere in her list of Depp's projects does she mention Rex Mundi. And all of that tends to lead me to believe that she's not completely up on her facts. But still, it's not exactly a bad thing to keep reminding the public that the Depp/DS film is in the works. 

She also spelled Barnabas wrong!!  OFF TOPIC: I think it was really nice to hear that Johnny and Co. stepped up to help finish the late Heath Ledgers film.