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

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I just typed in Dark Shadows at IMDB and it gives you the title and a release date of 2010.

The thing about Burton's involvement is, like Depp, and thanks to ProfStokes posting this link:

...Down the Rabbit Hole for Tim Burton...

we know that he has others films in his pipeline. 2010 would seem like the earliest a finished DS film will surface - it could take longer. Animated films have an especially long production period and Burton is the type to want to personally oversee it all.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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.

I have the same concern - though I'm willing to keep an open mind. Others have pointed to Sleepy Hollow as a film where Burton kept it mostly serious and as a good example of what DS might be like in his hands. It's been 7-8 years since I've seen that film, so I suppose I need to revisit it to get a better idea of what Burton could do with DS.

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.

Something like that would be nice - however, confirmation may not happen soon. They may decide to keep everything for the Fest presentation come July 19th. That's probably what I would do if I were them so as to make the Fest presentation that much more interesting not only for the DS fans who aren't on the Internet and who aren't reading all these Web site reports, but for everyone attending the Fest...

[GooberCollins]

Sleepy Hollow, though generally serious in tone, did have quite a lot of "splatter comedy," something I can't really see applying to DS. HoDS had those enormous buckets of raspberry sauce blood, but that carried on in the original show's tradition of being unintentionally funny at times.

[jimbo]

Something like that would be nice - however, confirmation may not happen soon. They may decide to keep everything for the Fest presentation come July 19th. That's probably what I would do if I were them so as to make the Fest presentation that much more interesting not only for the DS fans who aren't on the Internet and who aren't reading all these Web site reports, but for everyone attending the Fest...

That is a very intriguing idea. But in terms of ethical reporting, Shadowgram did state several months ago that a screenwriter was soon to be announced and that they would let us know when that happened. I am not sure why the Fest and/or Shadowgram would then hold back from us fans this reported information? Sounds like a marketing ploy to me. We rely heavily on Shadowgram for the latest confirmed information regarding DS developments. I would like to think that it will continue to do so and not intentionally hold back any confirmed DS developments. That is why I am hoping Mr. Kennedy informs Shadowgram of the latest DS movie developments.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It wouldn't actually be unethical of SG not to confirm or even deny anything of what we've learned today before it's confirmed or denied at the Fest. As I've said before, SG shares what Marcy is told by her official sources or what she comes across on her own or through the SG subscribers. If no one shares confirmed information about developments with the Depp/DS film with her, she's not being unethical if she's not reporting anything. And any official sources aren't being unethical if they choose to keep to themselves any confirmations or denials until the Fest because they have every right to choose to disseminate their info whenever/however they choose to - not simply because some of it may have been leaked, perhaps even inadvertently, on the Internet. And if they choose to stick to what was probably the original plan of waiting to make the official announcements at the Fest, that's their prerogative. It's not like TPTB would be hiding matters of national security that the public have a right to know. It's simply news about a movie.    Sure, some of us might like to know sooner rather than later, but chances are most of us are still going to be just as excited and interested to learn the confirmed details seven weeks from now as we are today. It's really no biggie if we might have to wait that long. 

[Doug]

I am not a fan of Tim Burton. The only movie I like from him is "Sleepy Hollow". But I will give him the
benefit of doubt since he will direct the new DS movie.

[JS]

With all the good news coming out yesterday about the new Dark Shadows movie maybe someone will finally update some of the DS fan sites. Does anyone know why the big DS fan web sites are so out of date? I know one of the sites hasn't been updated because one of the creators passed away but I thought someone was supposed to take it over? 

[jimbo]

It wouldn't actually be unethical of SG not to confirm or even deny anything of what we've learned today before it's confirmed or denied at the Fest. As I've said before, SG shares what Marcy is told by her official sources or what she comes across on her own or through the SG subscribers. If no one shares confirmed information about developments with the Depp/DS film with her, she's not being unethical if she's not reporting anything. And any official sources aren't being unethical if they choose to keep to themselves any confirmations or denials until the Fest because they have every right to choose to disseminate their info whenever/however they choose to - not simply because some of it may have been leaked, perhaps even inadvertently, on the Internet. And if they choose to stick to what was probably the original plan of waiting to make the official announcements at the Fest, that's their prerogative. It's not like TPTB would be hiding matters of national security that the public have a right to know. It's simply news about a movie.    Sure, some of us might like to know sooner rather than later, but chances are most of us are still going to be just as excited and interested to learn the confirmed details seven weeks from now as we are today. It's really no biggie if we might have to wait that long. 

Hi MB. I think you may have misread my post and/or I may not have made myself clear. I agree with what you said about that Marcy cannot report anything that is not confirmed to her. I thought I stated that several times in my post. I just disagree on your theory that Shadowgram would intentionally withhold confirmed information to make a bigger splash at the Fest. There is obviously nothing unethical about Marcy and Shadowgram. I think my words got twisted around a bit here. My position is that if Shadowgram was informed by DCP that a screenwriter had been hired, that she would have released it immediately as so promised. There is no doubt in my mind that would be the case. It's just my opinion that I would have an issue if Shadowgram witheld said confirmed information( identity of the screenwriter) from us when they stated that information would be released to us shortly. I think overall we are on the same page.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, IF we can believe AintItCool.com, they've known for a while that John August has been working on a script. So, if that's true, the fact that he has has indeed been going unreported until yesterday. At the time that Marcy mentioned she would announce the screenwriter's name, I'm sure she was quite sincere about it. However, one place I think we disagree might be that if Marcy was, say, told off the record about August and Burton's involvement in the Depp/DS film and she was asked to not circulate that news in SG or her online updates because TPTB decided they want to make the official announcement at the Fest, there would be absolutely nothing wrong with that. Originally she may not have been made aware of their plans or they may have simply changed their minds after she'd already said that she'd report the screenwriter's name when confirmation of it developed. IF TPTB made a specific request of her not to say anything, there really isn't much she can do.

Of course, I don't know if that's the case. Now that the news is out, an SG update on the subject of August (and Burton) could be being prepared as I write this and it could come out any minute. But my original reply to you was simply meant as a caution that there's also a possibility that that isn't the case and we probably shouldn't get upset if nothing surfaces from SG until after the Fest - especially if the plan is to make any and all official announcements at the Fest. 

Also, unless things have changed since last year at this time, there really is no such thing as DCP anymore - at least not in the way it had previously existed. Its offices were closed down after DC's death, and David Kennedy, its former president, became an independent producer. (I believe there's still a contact phone number for people interested in DCP's catalog of already produced material and the rights to such, but there's no longer any day to day operation.) As Variety reported last July, it was DC's estate that negotiated the deal with Depp for the rights to make a new DS movie - but they might not even have much of a say in how the film is made because that seems to vary from rights deal to rights deal...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I see that the Soap Opera Digest/Soap Opera Weekly Web site (http://www.soapoperadigest.com) is now reporting Burton's involvement. (Currently #2 in the Breaking News list, but the numbers apparently change as new items are added.) They also have a poll on which other former soap opera fans would most like to see made into a movie. (Currently Another World is leading - though I might have picked Santa Barbara or Edge of Night, which are currently #2 and #3, respectively.)

Even New York Magazine is going with the news: Tim Burton's Previous Movies Not Gothic Enough, Apparently

If by any chance the reports aren't true, there are going to be an awful lot of red-faced people out there. 

[Patti Feinberg]

from MB:

Animated films have an especially long production period and Burton is the type to want to personally oversee it all.

MB, I haven't been reading this topic until today/this page.

Is the DS remake slated to be animated??

(I almost didn't read the article above you linked because at the top of the site, there's a banner ad for BERGDORFGOODMANS!!.)

Patti

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Is the DS remake slated to be animated??

No - but as the article linked to again in reply #285 explains, Burton is working on a 3-D version of Alice In Wonderland that will involve performance-capture, and he's also working on a remake of his short film Frankenweenie that will involve stop-motion animation.

[Mary]

Check out: Tim Burton and John August Developing Dark Shadows

This article says John August "has been working on patching up the script."  Now what does that mean?  Does that mean he wrote it and is just fixing it up a bit more or does that mean someone else wrote it and he's patching up someone else's script?  If someone else wrote it, who was it?

And the author of one of the replies refers to DS as "The Shads" -- ?!?!?!   Now I watched this show in the original run and I've been involved in fandom since 1990 and I've never heard of DS called The Shads -- have I been left out some sort of elite inner circle?  LOL!!

[jimbo]

MB you are right about possibly doubting the aintitcool's website indicating they had already known about August as the screenwriter for the DS movie. That does not pass the smell test. I personally wrote three emails to them which went unanswered. In the past Harry used to respond to my questions. I guess an oversized ego got in the way.

Regarding Shadowgram, if they wanted Marcy to keep the news under her hat, I guess she did need to comply with their request against her wishes to release the information. That is very possible. I did not previously give it that much thought before.

Regarding DCP, I thought it did still exist on paper as a corporation but my main point is that Kennedy is listed as a producer for this film and may have known about the recent developments. But as you said DCP or whatever may not have any creative input on the movie.

I'll pull a rookie mistake here and hope this article has not been posted yet (pressed for time today)-my apologizes in advance to the original poster if that is the case-but it seems that the DS movie is nowhere on the WB's radar up to the year 2012. I did have trouble reading the small print so I hope I did not miss anything. lol

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5002&Itemid=99

[jimbo]

This article says John August "has been working on patching up the script."  Now what does that mean?  Does that mean he wrote it and is just fixing it up a bit more or does that mean someone else wrote it and he's patching up someone else's script?  If someone else wrote it, who was it?

And the author of one of the replies refers to DS as "The Shads" -- ?!?!?!   Now I watched this show in the original run and I've been involved in fandom since 1990 and I've never heard of DS called The Shads -- have I been left out some sort of elite inner circle?  LOL!!

Hey Mary. I would speculate that the script is more complete than not. lol I don't know but it seems that it may be "complete" but that there are some parts, gaps that require much more work. I think the word patching is better than if he was just starting the script. I would guess that the script is written by him or though he may have some corroborators. Another article stated that because of the writer's strike, August is backlogged. As far as the Shads question maybe someone else can help with that question.  I have not heard that particular term before.