An epic feel would be great, but I think they would have to be careful not to bite off more than they (or the audience) can chew. Trying to jam everything, from Vicki's arrival, to who's-this-strange-family-with-all-these-strange-members, to who-are-all-these-townsfolk-and-how-do-they-relate-to-what's-going-on, to Willie Loomis opening things better left closed, to what he let lose causing all sorts of mystery and mayhem, to trying to get to the bottom of it, to going back over two centuries to see what caused all this, to bringing it back home again, all in, say, two-and-a-half-hours might be just a bit too much, even for a filmmaker like Depp.
Maybe it would work better with a Lord-of-the-Rings approach (although I must admit I've never seen any of the movies; there were three, weren't there?). Plan on doing two films possibly (hopefully the first one will be a critical and commercial smash so investors will give the green light for the second). Number One can concern itself with modern day goings-on; Number Two with things centuries past. And if that works out, well, maybe there'll be a Number Three (it could totally center around THE PEN). Just my two cents (deduct it from the $9.75 the ticket will cost to see it at the megaplex).
Gerard