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

[Taeylor Collins]

Unless the script is not good I can't see Johnny waiting too long. He has wanted to play Barney for his whole life.  However, he is aging well!   YUMMY! I love his hobo shick look!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, SG believes the Depp/DS film "is heading toward production later this year." And one would presume that Marcy quite probably has sources that we do not...

Check out:

ShadowGram Update #208

and scroll down to: **** UPDATE: NEW DS MOVIE

[Cousin_Barnabas]

That is great news, MB!  2011 is only a year away!  Hopefully there won't be any major bumps to slow down the process.

[jimbo]

The best insider here is SG. It is refreshing that SG set the record straight with whether or not DS will be filming this year. Hopefully GK will have learned his lesson although it seems we are stuck with him as being the DS spokesman.

[jimbo]

Pirates 4 has been added to the official Pirate movies website and it reflects Depp will be in the movie. Not surprising news but there had been some talk that he had not yet officially signed on to appear in the movie.

http://disney.go.com/pirates/#/movies_strangertides

[Josette]

Our newspaper, I think it was yesterday, said it (Pirates 4) would be filming in Hawaii, and said it will be done this summer for a 2011 release.

[jimbo]

Boy it seems they are having real big time problems with the DS screenplay judging from the latest statements made by King.
All parties want to see this through but I am having my doubts at this point. Why isn't everyone on the same page after all this time? Is it the plot-the storyline should have been approved like 2 years ago.

http://www.collider.com/2010/01/28/producer-graham-king-exclusive-interview-talks-edge-of-darkness-dark-shadows-the-tourist-and-more/

[KMR]

Jimbo, this sounds pretty normal. They can't draw up a realistic budget or schedule a shoot until they have a finished script. I'm very sure they want to do it right, and if that means more work needs to be done on the script, they really have no choice. A movie project like this is not simply a matter of contracting with a writer, the writer banging out a script, and the producers running with it to the studio. I think Burton and Depp have a very tricky situation on their hands--there are so many directions they could go with interpreting the base material, and so many of those directions could go way wrong. I'm just as impatient as the next guy, but I'm frankly relieved to hear that the delays appear to be due to trying to get it right.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Boy it seems they are having real big time problems with the DS screenplay ... Is it the plot-the storyline should have been approved like 2 years ago.

This is purely my take on what might be going on with the script - but it is based on remarks that we've seen in a few different reports. I don't think that it's necessarily that the script is bad or that there are big problems with it. I strongly suspect that they're trying to make the script as different as possible from a certain current and hugely successful vampire franchise - particularly when they have hopes of DS becoming a franchise. A script/storyline which could have been thought to be perfect two years ago may not be seen as perfect now because Twilight has become such a phenomenon and DS and T have much in common. The fact that T beat DS to the gate could easily cause audiences to see DS as a T ripoff (only with adults) even though DS and its storylines preceded T by decades - DS went into development before T - and, if anything, T rips off DS, not the other way around. But actual facts like those will be irrelevant to the target audience who are simply focused on the recent timeline of events - namely T's explosion on the movie scene. I believe they're trying to differentiate the DS script from T as much as possible while still remaining true to DS - and it may be taking some doing to maintain the balance. But like KMR, I'm heartened to know that TPTB are more concerned with getting it right than rushing into production...

[Taeylor Collins]

Well MB I think that is a very logical explanation and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this was pretty much what it's all about. I am not asking anyone else to have my patience but I am trying to be in that frame of mind.  I want DS to be the best it can be even if doesn't come out for two or even three more years. Johnny is holding up just fine!  

[jimbo]

KMR and MB thanks for your take on what might be happening with the DS script. I am all for getting the script to be as good as possible. I believe there is another Twilight movie coming out this year. It gets to a point where the DS script has to stop from being reactive to the next vampire flick. I don't think we should be concerned about any other vampire franchise. Dark Shadows has wonderful stories to tell. How much deviation on the original story can one expect? . I hope Depp is not going to change his interpretation of Barnabas because of Twilight. I agree that the DS writers can take DS in several different directions. I just don't think DS needs to play catch up. I thought DS stood for a story that is timeless. I do remember King saying something about that this DS film is not going to be Twilight like. However, if the DS producers keep on trying to compete with other vampire franchises then perhaps they should have never attempted to tackle this DS movie project. It doesn't seem that we are only talking about rewrites but more of totally scrapping August's vision and starting from a new beginning. Here is another DS article that does not add any new information but does add to show how fragile this DS project is.
http://www.examiner.com/x-18039-Capital-District-Movies-Examiner~y2010m1d29-Dark-Shadows-is-coming-but-not-just-yet

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Ah, there's a quote from one of the reports in which King said they'd been given John August's script. I knew I'd read it somewhere...

Speaking of August, this past week I rewatched The Nines after not having seen it since the DVD first came out in January of '08. I'd forgotten how much I'd love it and its whole concept. Certainly, the Depp/DS movie will be nothing like it - but it proves to me that August is more than capable of writing fully formed and complex characters and placing them in a extremely well plotted story that will make you think as well as entertain you. And I can't ask for more than that from a movie...

I also own the DVD of Go, which August also wrote. I haven't watched that one since it came out in August of '99. It's a dramedy, so it won't be anything like DS either - but it tops my rewatch list, and I'll probably fit it in this weekend...

[madscntst]

They can't draw up a realistic budget or schedule a shoot until they have a finished script. I'm very sure they want to do it right, and if that means more work needs to be done on the script, they really have no choice. A movie project like this is not simply a matter of contracting with a writer, the writer banging out a script, and the producers running with it to the studio. I think Burton and Depp have a very tricky situation on their hands--there are so many directions they could go with interpreting the base material, and so many of those directions could go way wrong. I'm just as impatient as the next guy, but I'm frankly relieved to hear that the delays appear to be due to trying to get it right.

Absolutely!

[jimbo]

I caught that too MB about how King previously stated that he received August's script so why is King subsequently saying that he hasn't received it yet. If King was referring to the fact that he hasn't received the rewrites, then in all fairness he should put that in the proper context. August stated he believes the script he wrote for DS is fantastic. I hope all parties get on the same page and let this project go forward. I haven't seen The Nines or Go yet but I heard a lot of good things about them.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

how King previously stated that he received August's script so why is King subsequently saying that he hasn't received it yet. If King was referring to the fact that he hasn't received the rewrites, then in all fairness he should put that in the proper context.

As I attempted to piece together a couple weeks ago, I think King did imply that when he has referred to the script August turned in as a first screenplay and a first draft, while also mentioning rewrites. The confusion stems from the fact that King seemingly provides some details in one report and other details in another report and one needs to piece the situation together from these different reports because there's no one report that lays it all out. However, that could be the report writers' faults as much as it might be King's. We don't always know for sure if the reports are picking and choosing King's remarks or including them all...