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

For what it's worth, the Dr. Who rumor is false- I forget whether it was from Johnny's side or Dr. Who's side, but someone officially denied it.  Johnny was/is a fan of the show, but that's all.  (He is also not going to play Ozzy Osbourne- that rumor has been circulating on and off for years, and it's floating around again now).

Nobody yet knows what Johnny will be doing after Pirates 4 - nothing has been greenlit, to my knowledge.  It's frustrating, but ya know, it seems a little silly to say that Tim or Johnny must not care anymore when it doesn't sound to me like the script is yet in satisfactory shape.  Hopefully there will be some tidbits given at the DS fest.

Some news today- Variety reports that Seth Grahame-Smith has been signed on as a writer for DS.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118021794.html?categoryId=13&cs=1

One could take this as bad news, in that it sounds like a setback.  But if the script really wasn't satisfactory, as it doesn't sound like it was, I think that it is good news that they are taking steps to overcome this obstacle.  This writer is already signed on for "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," so for better or worse, he's someone who likes doing vampire projects

Interestingly, the article says that Johnny is only attached as a producer at the moment.  I still believe that he wants to portray Barnabas, so I am guessing that if his involvement as the star is not official, that's just a formality.

Now I'm really interested to hear what if anything will be said about Mr. Grahame-Smith at the Fest.

Cathy

Sorry for the double post, but here is another article from deadline.com that claims the production will start in January.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/seth-grahame-smith-scripting-dark-shadows-as-tim-burton-pic-gets-closer-to-start-line-with-johnny-depp/

That may be a little optimistic, but who knows?  I'd be all for it if it's true!!

Cathy

Very interesting news on a few fronts:

As I've stated before, I was never totally keen on John August writing the script for the Depp/DS film because, with the exception of his script for The Nines, his style doesn't seem suited for DS. Well, unless they planned to make the film more comedic than dramatic - and there have been hints of that - but I'm still hoping that in the end that won't be case.

On that front, I can't say the fact that Seth Grahame-Smith wrote Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is all that encouraging. But my initial problem with that book was taking a renowned public figure and putting him in an outlandish setting. I've never read the book, so I have no idea if the situations in the book are treated dramatically or comedically. If it's the former and not necessarily the latter, it could be encouraging to have him on board. I'll have to go back and read some of the reviews. (I do seem to recall, though, that Entertainment Weekly said the book presented Lincoln 'through a cockeyed and ultimately foolish lens." Not exactly the way I would care to see Barnabas presented...)

On a totally different front, it's interesting that Variety mentions that DS is part of WB's plan to release 20 films in the IMAX format - but there's no mention of 3D...

And never worry about double posting whenever new info is being added to a topic. In fact, we should be thanking you for double posting.    So, thank you.  


Now it's going to be very interesting to see what sort of news comes out at the Fest...

I haven't read (nor do I really know anything about, other than recalling seeing the title here and there) the Abraham Lincoln book, so I don't really have feelings one way or the other on that.  I might want to read it now, though   I don't think I'd have a problem with a public figure in an outlandish setting, as long as it was an intriguing and creative treatment (of course!)  But I could also see how it could turn out dumb.  And I really *don't* want DS to come off as dumb or buffoonish. 

The main reason I apologized for the double post was the quick timing- it seemed as if no sooner had I posted here than I got a news alert with the other article, and I thought, darn, too bad I didn't see this first so I could post both pieces together.  But the potential January start was certainly worth adding.  For what it's worth, Comingsoon.net is now saying the same thing about January, though I would feel more convinced of that if that info had been included in Variety.

Cathy

But I could also see how it could turn out dumb.  And I really *don't* want DS to come off as dumb or buffoonish.

What I'm trying to hold onto is the strong likelihood that Burton wouldn't want to make two films so closely together that are too similar, so that would cause one to believe that he would want the Depp/DS film and the adaptation of AL:VH to be quite different from each other. If not, why even bother doing both?

I thought, darn, too bad I didn't see this first so I could post both pieces together.

No worries.

For what it's worth, Comingsoon.net is now saying the same thing about January, though I would feel more convinced of that if that info had been included in Variety.

Same here.

Interestingly, the <Variety> article says that Johnny is only attached as a producer at the moment.  I still believe that he wants to portray Barnabas, so I am guessing that if his involvement as the star is not official, that's just a formality.

The article does say, "... Johnny Depp attached to star and produce ..." (at least, that what it said as of a minute ago).  Of course, it doesn't say that he is starring as Barnabas.  Maybe he's going to star as Roger, or Willie, or (if Tim Burton really wants to go wild) Elizabeth.

Kind of interesting that Tim Burton and company released this development one day before the DS Fest. Stole some of the thunder from the movie panel here at the Fest. Is this movie now considered greenlit by WB?

The article does say, "... Johnny Depp attached to star and produce ..." (at least, that what it said as of a minute ago).

Apparently they've edited it because earlier it said "Depp is only set to produce at this point" - and that appeared in a lower paragraph. Now the phrase you've quoted appears in the first paragraph.

If I was to hazard a guess, I'd say someone in the know read the article and then fed them the correction.  

They also added the bit about the IMAX releases taking place "over the next three and a half years through 2013."

I've got the Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter book, but have yet to read it. It's getting bumped up on my stack of books for sure now. I remember seeing an ad for it one day, and then the next my writing teacher came in with a copy of the ad proclaiming Can you believe this crap! and all I could think was, that looks totally awesome! Has anyone else read it? Or P&P&Z (which I also own but have yet to read).

I've seen AL/VH at Costco but haven't picked it up. In the past,  I've only read serious stuff on AL and hesitate to read something that might make the great man appear less than what he was.  Maybe I'm too nervous to take a chance on it since there might be something unflattering revealed about him.  However, I'm reading the Larsson trilogy at this time and may reconsider AL/VH when done with it.

I just received an MPI mini-catalogue. The front cover says 'Revisit the Original Classic & Prepare for the Upcoming Dark Shadows Movie Starring Johnny Depp!'. I'd send a scan but I don't know how to insert it into a post. And by the way, all dvd collections are 40% off.

I just received that mini catalogue too.  Makes me wonder if they were planting red herrings about the delay of the movie for a big announcement at the fest.

no major announcement was made tonight, no casting has been done other than depp playing barnabas. they did say something about the script. i think the same thing that has been reported here. they did show the brittish talk show with depp/burton as the guests.

To expand on what Joe said Pierson said the following: the movie will most probably be filmed in 3 D; the new writer started working on the script 2 weeks ago; there have been informal discussions with actors but no official offer has been made and casting may start soon; no start date was mentioned.