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

[jimbo]

Thanks too Madscntst.

MB I thought based on this article that JD had officially signed on and that Pirates 4 was to start in June. I also read somewhere else that Pirates 4 is expected to take 5 months to shoot. The Tourist should be starting in a couple of months so I don't know what is going on with DS. It looks like it might be a very late 2010 shoot.

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00030013.html

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Hmmm... Though it comes across as at least a bit odd that we read/hear these reports about Pirates 4 from other people - but not from Depp. 

[madscntst]

I think that Pirates is still going forward, probably in June as has been mentioned.  Bruckheimer is very keen on mentioning Johnny's involvement every chance he gets, but he's been pretty elusive otherwise.  I don't think/hope it won't take 5 months to shoot, because they keep promising that the story will be simpler and less effects-driven than Pirates 2 and 3.  Johnny probably didn't feel the need to talk about it much because it isn't going to need the publicity     I *think* The Tourist is still planned for next month, with now the original director back in place.  I think that the thinking has been that DS will start shooting in Oct. or Nov., so I hope that will still be on target.  This will be a very tight schedule for Johnny, and he also just mentioned in passing (we think, from articles that have been translated from Serbian) that he is also in the process of making a documentary about Keith Richards!!  I don't know where he finds the time, but I think he loves to be busy when he's doing projects that he loves, so hopefully this will all come together!

[jimbo]

I am beginning to dislike GK. You can't have it both ways and the spinning needs to stop-he has teased us in the past with words right out of his own mouth about DS films this year and now he is stepping back and saying that they have yet to receive the script.
I hope this report is wrong. I am going to side with Depp and say that DS will film this year unless this is a recent development.

http://chud.com/articles/articles/22177/1/DARK-SHADOWS-MOVIE-STAYS-IN-THE-SHADOWS-A-BIT-LONGER/Page1.html

[madscntst]

I'm not too fond of him, either, jimbo.  In this day of the internet, things can definitely be taken out of context, but it seems as if sometime back, someone took a direct quote from him, and he started backpedalling about how his words were misinterpreted.  But he never said he didn't say what was quoted, and the quote seemed pretty concrete, so it was pretty obvious that he goofed and was doing damage control.  Clarify if you said something wrong, but don't point fingers at people who are quoting you if YOU misspoke.  And he just seems a little too whiny about it all.

Bruckheimer is another shady one- he's still saying that the decision hasn't been made about Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly returning for Pirates 4, but they've both sounded pretty firm about not wanting to come back, and if they *did* return, the script would have to be changed drastically, so if they plan to start filming in June, they darn well have better have made that decision already.  They just don't want to say.

I think this is why for the most part, people are very tightlipped until they really have something concrete to announce.  We want information, but when we get it and then start getting all kinds of contradictions, maybe it'd be better off if we'd hear less   Even better would be if they could tell us very small pieces of information at a time, and be CLEAR about what they are saying, even if everything is still up in the air.

Cathy

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I would say that, if the reports that the script is going through rewrites are true, and I don't see why we should doubt them, then they don't have a script because it's still being worked on. And that's nothing out of the ordinary. John August probably did indeed present them with a completed script - but I think it was GK that described that script as the first draft - and it's not unusual for scripts to go through several drafts before the actual filmable script (meaning the one that all parties agree on) is finalized. I don't think GK has ever been saying that he hasn't seen any script or that they don't have any script. He means they don't have that final script yet.

Actually, if we want to go by the first two, the precedent for DS films would seem to be that the scripts are still being worked on even after production has already begun. NoDS began production on March 29, 1971, and there are significant rewrites in the script that are dated March 31st. And hoDS began shooting on March 23, 1970, but there are major rewrites in that script (which in and of itself is indicated to be a second draft) that are dated March 25th.

[jimbo]

In post number 1143 and its included link in this topic, King stated this sometime in the 1st week of December'09:

There are over 1,200 episodes. Will you include a little of as many as possible or make an origin story?

King: I'll know as soon as I get the script.

I guess King may have been referring to not seeing a completed script but he may be saying that he has not seen any DS script. In a way he seems to be placing blame on August when in all fairness his production company most likely received August's script and King's people are rewriting it. I agree with Madscntst that it would be better if he clarified himself if he mispoke. But to say that DS is not in production because he has not seen the script implies there may be a problem with the writer not finishing the script in a timely manner. Of course the alternative is as you said was that King was waiting for the  script that has been approved by all parties. I just don't like his style. That said at least he is speaking while no other DS producer is saying anything and I think I don't have to mention any names.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'd have to go back to reread the linked articles from the past several months, but the reasons I'm thinking GK is talking about a final script are 1) didn't we get a report that August turned in his script, and 2) hasn't August's script been described in at least one report as a first draft? Also, GK has mentioned in a few different interviews that the script is in rewrites - and rewrites by definition are the reworkings of an already completed draft of a script.   

[jimbo]

It's hard to tell who actually has seen the script. Depp and King deny ever receiving it and TB probably did not see it. Even if GK has seen a version of the script he shouldn't be telling the media that the script has yet to be given to him IMO. So if I am made to understand it once Gk's people have done the rewrites the script is then and only then given to Depp and Burton. And if they kick it back then it just goes back and forth and King can continue argue that he has never been given the script. Pretty slick.

Anyway this seems to confirm that Pirates 4 is definitely going to film this summer.

http://filmonic.com/pirates-of-the-caribbean-4-to-film-in-hawaii-this-summer-2011

[madscntst]

I don't think Johnny has denied receiving a script- at an interview around the time of Public Enemies, he said it was "very close", which indicated to me that it was good but needed work.  He kept his words simple, as was probably for the best.  King annoys me because he seems to be backpedalling too much.  I heard about Pirates and think that is actually good news- if the planned films are all nailed down it means there won't be any monkeywrenches to change all the scheduling.

Cathy

[jimbo]

Yes that is true that Johnny did not deny ever receiving the script. I meant to say that he has not admitted per se that he has read it-he simply may have been told by the production company that the script was close. I would hope that he has read it and in all probability he has.
Yes I agree that King is annoying and is backpedalling too much. It does seem that JD's filming schedule is coming more definitive. Perhaps we should have some other DS producer do the talking in the future.

[jimbo]

There have been at least 5 websites reporting today that Dark Shadows may be having problems and may not shoot this year or at all. The Aintitcool website reports Dark Shadows appears to be "stumbling". This linked website suggests DS better shoot before Pirates 4 but that does not seem feasible at this point. Once again DS fandom continues taking a hit in the media.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/01/19/disney-buzz-pirates-4-shooting-this-summer-burtons-next/

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Forget Shadows...    I want to see MALEFICENT!  Seriously, that sounds amazing, so long as Burton sticks to the Disney version of the story.  Okay, that was my initial reaction.  Now that I have had time to think about it, I still desperately want Shadows, but I also want Maleficent (if the project is actually in the works), so let's compromise.  Let's forget Frankenweenie and simply shoot Shadows followed immediately by Maleficent.   

[Taeylor Collins]

According to this article Pirates 4 is filming this summer in Hawaii!   I don't know what this means for DS!

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PIRATES_HAWAII?SITE=VTBEN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Gothick]

I'd say it's pretty much a given, since this is a Johnny Depp/Tim Burton team project, that a number of delays in moving forward with the scheduling are inevitable.  Thankfully, even if it takes them ten years to get this baby into actual production, Depp will still look believable as Barnabas, given how youthful his appearance still remains.

The stated release date for the DS film on IMDB is still 2011.  Another big-profile project slated for release in that year is The Mighty Thor.  If you visit the IMDB page for that site, you'll find a full cast list and much more of a sense of a project ready to go into production.  The only details available for DS continue to be pitifully scant.  So, I personally don't expect it to go into production in the foreseeable future.

Of course, I'm not a media insider like some of y'all--just an old Yankee curmudgeon.  *wink*

G.