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

A doozie of a nightmare!

Oh dear    Ya know, Johnny did say in interviews that he's afraid of clowns, but... nah... this just CAN'T be the plot of the movie      Anyway, no offense or anything, MB, but I hope they come up with something a little better 

No offense taken. Heaven forbid that the Depp/DS film should be anything like that dream!    It would be worse than a nightmare because it would be real...

Shame on you, MB.  I was reading the board at work today and had to bite the insides of my cheeks to keep from bursting out laughing when I read your description of your dream.   

ProfStokes

Oh my gosh, MB, I am laughing so hard!  OK, maybe Jonathan Frid's cameo appearance will be as a dancing clown... LOL!!!

Well MB at least you didn't dream up another dream curse j/k I can't remember my last DS dream but I am sure I had them. Wish I had one like you did.

Dancing skeletons and clowns are very Burton.  I hope that was just a dream and not a premonition! 

Casting talks have started

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118031422?refCatId=13

http://www.deadline.com/2011/02/jackie-earle-haley-and-bella-heathcoate-in-dark-shadows-talks/

Not sure what I think of the possible Willie Loomis actor

Dancing skeletons and clowns are very Burton.

Which is why the dream was such a nightmare! It's exactly the sort of thing Burton does do.

I hope that was just a dream and not a premonition!

You, me, and I suspect everyone else here.

But hmmm - perhaps Frid could be playing one of the dancing clowns...

Nah - he would certainly have the good sense not to agree to anything like that... 

Very interesting that according to what's in Variety they would appear to be going with the Maggie/Josette angle rather than Vicki/Josette. One has to wonder if that could mean that Vicki won't even be a character in the film? And if so. that would make the whole Kirsten Van Wagner saga even more bizarre than it already was...

Though now I see that deadline.com is identifying the part as Vicki. Odd. Well, unless they're totally revamping Vicki and instead of being the Collins governess, she'll be a Collinsport waitress.

But regardless of whether she's Vicki or Maggie, it honestly doesn't surprise me that they're seriously considering going with a relative unknown  for the female lead. I thought they might go with a British actress - but Australian isn't that far off (though I suspect the Brits and Aussies would probably disagree  ).

As for the potential Willie, Jackie Earle Haley is an excellent actor and I can definitely see him as Willie even though his casting would make Willie older than previous incarnations. But I would much rather have an excellent actor in any of the roles than see someone less talented cast simply because of their age.

I see that several reports are cropping up online with the casting news, which is no surprise. Though what is a bit surprising is none are citing Variety and all seem to be citing deadline.com, which means all are describing the female lead as a governess rather than what Variety is reporting:

"Heathcote would play a local waitress, whom Collins takes a shine to because of her resemblance to his long-lost love. "

Someone is obviously wrong...

Also, I forgot to mention earlier that it's interesting to see Variety considering that DS has the potential to solve a problem for Warner Bros.: the need for a franchise to replace the waning Harry Potter series. But even though, as Variety also reports, neither Burton or Depp has talked of franchising DS, someone connected with the film most definitely did discuss franchising. Was it Richard Zanuck? I forget already...

Wow...I was looking forward to seeing this film but now not so much.

Well, it may be too early to believe that it really is Maggie over Vicki, or that Maggie is becoming a Vicki clone (rather than Maggie becoming a Vicki clone on the daytime series.) Something is definitely wrong somewhere. And normally I would say that Variety is the one to get its facts straight. But deadline.com has proven that its reports about the film have been very accurate in the past. Perhaps one or the other is simply making assumptions as to the description of the female lead character's profession while the other has it right. And we all know how dangerous it is to assume.

Obviously she's not a governess and a waitress. But only time will tell whether Variety or deadline.com has it right...

I've enjoyed Mr. Haley's work since Breaking Away, and he's be great as Willie!! 

http://www.slashfilm.com/jackie-earle-haley-bella-heathcoate-talks-dark-shadows/

I think he looks too old and she looks like she's 15.

She's either 22 or 23. A May 10, 2010 online article about her says she was 22 then, but I have no idea when her birthday is.