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

This interview adds that the movie will be filmed "late next summer".

http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_ezine&task=read&page=1&category=2&article=5921

And thanks for the Reelz video, MB.

Thanks jimbo!  I can accept "late" next summer, as long as they keep confirming it!

Cathy

I personally think it would improve the chances of Depp Shadows being a decent movie in its own right if both the conceptualization of the characters and the casting of the actors to play them goes "outside the box" of trying to find types to match up with who we originally saw onscreen in the 1960s series.

Let's face it--they broke the mold when Grayson Hall took birth.  Trying to find someone somehow "like" her for Julia is a waste of time.  The Kelly Hu casting *could* have given an interesting slant to the character because thinking of her as an Asian American female professional immediately gives a very different context to the character's action in the Barnabas-out-of-his-coffin phase of the story.

Similarly, I would love to see a black, or mixed-race, actress in the role of Angelique.  In fact, I was thinking about it this morning and thinking how interesting it would be if the story was told so that more audience sympathy was on the side of Angelique because she was not white and doomed to perpetual servitude and therefore had more of an axe to grind beyond Barn not wanting to marry her.  In the original portrayal of the character in 1795, they gave her LOTS of dialogue about her own perception of her lot and how she was going to "show them all."  I thought that made her much more interesting than the 1991 version where she's some kind of bat out of hell who is completely psychotic from the get-go.  It wasn't at all nuanced or layered and frankly, I found her ridiculous rather than terrifying.

Unfortunately, American pop culture is now obsessed with narratives of apocalypse and ultimate evil (for obvious reasons), so I'm not sure that a three dimensional Angelique is on the cards.  But I amused myself this morning imagining Angelique as the anti-heroine and Josette as a haughty, frigid bitch loved by Barnabas and cosseted by her family but not terribly attractive to the 21st century viewer.

I could write more but I'll stop.  I could see Philip Seymour Hoffman having a great presence as Stokes, if that character is on board (seems unlikely).

G.

Gothick!
I really loved your post! A lot to think about for sure.

If the movie does start shooting next summer, it will be a late 2010 release at the earliest. 

Nancy

Hi Nancy,

Thanks!  If they go forward with what has been announced as the schedule (and of course, it could change radically at any moment), just when they will decide to release it is a toss-up. I remember when Serenity, the movie spinoff from Joss Whedon's Firefly series, was going to be released at Xmas one year, when it was discovered by the suits that it would be hitting the tarmac at the same time as some other pet blockbuster or other.  As a result, the release was postponed--by SIX MONTHS. 

Their release schedules are so shoehorned these days that I could easily see the movie sitting on a shelf for a couple of years post-production while they try to angle it into the optimum minimal-competition weekend.  Hooray for Hollywood.

cheers, G.

Warning - the following alert has been issued by Firefox:

Reported Attack Site!

This web site at www.empireonline.com has been reported as an attack site and has been blocked based on your security preferences.

Attack sites try to install programs that steal private information, use your computer to attack others, or damage your system.

Some attack sites intentionally distribute harmful software, but many are compromised without the knowledge or permission of their owners.

jimbo has provided a new link to an unaffected site in reply #715, and we suggest you use that one instead of the link in this post


Glad WB and DS producers did not feel the same about Twilight's success being a negative as the Near Dark remake producer believes and kills his project. They must have realized that DS is more than just a vampire show. In any event the DS movie will compete with Twilight sequels due in 2009 and 2010.

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=23864

Hmm, I'm receiving a Google alert that empireonline.com is infected and therefore blocked.

That's very odd. The link still works for me. Maybe it works for me because I am already infected . Kidding I hope. Hope it eventually works.

Hmm, I'm receiving a Google alert that empireonline.com is infected and therefore blocked.

I get the same alert. I believe it's a new and very welcomed addition to Firefox. The alert doesn't come up in other browsers.

Yep, the browser identified malicious trojans and a worm on the site.  You might want to run a virus scan to be on the safe side.  Do it for me, pretty please?

Sorry about all this mess. The article originated from  http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/081212i.php which is a popular site. I ran a Norton quick scan and no viruses showed up.

It's not your fault, jimbo - you had no way of knowing. But just to be safe, I've added a warning to your original post. 

As for the Near Dark remake, the original version is one of my favorite vampire films (and I snapped up the two disc DVD set as soon as it was released back in '02), but I was looking forward to seeing how they might update it. Apparently I'll have to wait longer...

Thanks MB and Midnite. I will stay away from said site in the future. We have posted links to said site previously see 675 in this topic. I guess this is something new?
In any event it is unfortunate about the Near Dark remake not being made at this point in time.

Thanks for the new link, jimbo, and for humoring me-- I'm glad your system is okay.  Until the site is removed from Google's list of unsafe webpages, that other link in Reply #675 will give Firefox users the same message.  But as MB and I know all too well from the number of times a Googlebot meets up with our security, their bots return to check sites quite often.   

Thanks Midnite for your concern. My computer is fine but not its operator. jk Infections are indeed a serious matter and I am always performing full computer scans almost on a daily basis. These are crazy times and with one little worm your personal information could be stolen but that is for another topic. Thanks for being on top of things for us.