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

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The Hollywood Reporter (and Variety) wouldn't be worth much if they simply reported news someone happened to post on the Internet. Considering how unreliable much of the Internet stuff is, they'd soon lose all credibility in the industry. And notice that The Hollywood Reporter didn't jump on deadline.com's report that the Depp/DS film was going to start in January or the one that said it was going to start in February. I believe the last time The Hollywood Reporter reported on the Depp/DS film it was to say that Seth Grahame-Smith had been hired to write the script - and only that, despite the many coinciding reports on the Internet of the supposed January start. (Though that's not to say that deadline.com's info was inaccurate at the time - only that The Hollywood Reporter's source had either not confirmed it or not given it to them. But if they had been picking news off the Internet, it's likely they would have gone with the January start as well.)

According to Google, as of a few minutes ago 30 Web sites were reporting the April start (even Reuters) and they're citing The Hollywood Reporter more often than deadline.com. But then, no matter how reliable any entertainment Web site might be, The Hollywood Reporter (and Variety) will always trump them as the more reliable source.  

As for not giving credit where credit is due, sadly that slight is rampant on the Internet.  

And as an aside, as part of their story ew.com is reporting that back when Depp and Burton were interviewed last February before the release of Alice in Wonderland, they told EW they’ve never seen any of the Twilight films...

[jimbo]

Well now we have Variety on board. Great to see the two best publications reporting this development.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118026957

[B.Collins]

i just read about this on "IMDB" & with news they are pretty good at reporting it. & if it's wrong they actually apologize about it. it doesn't happen often but it DOES happen. anyways "April" huh?


that's i think reasonable cause no one else in the cast has been announced & since it's NOW November that makes sense ya know? anyways, i think everyone here will agree with me when i say this, i'll believe it when i see it.

or rather hear it offically announced that it's started filming.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

anyways, i think everyone here will agree with me when i say this, i'll believe it when i see it.

or rather hear it offically announced that it's started filming.

Well, I understand your point and your hesitation. But unlike all the other claims of a start of production, this is the first one that could be considered anything approaching official. Most of the other mentions of a start of production were attributed to unnamed entities - and not even the one attributed to producer Richard Zanuck got an official announcement by WB. (Though at least with Zanuck we understand why that start never came to pass because Burton's time was completely consumed with getting Alice In Wonderland ready for release (and obviously there were still problems with the script that needed to be worked out)). But the fact that the April start has been mentioned in both The Hollywood Reporter and Variety trade papers and attributed to WB does indeed make this instance as official as it gets. (Or "super-extra-verified," as JoBlo.com is reporting it.  )

Does that mean something else can't happen to derail an April start? Sure - Depp or Burton or both could be hit by a bus tomorrow.    But for all intents and purposes WB now believes the development of the Depp/DS film has progressed to the point where they're comfortable publicly announcing an April start of production - and that speaks volumes about their confidence in the project.

And BTW, according to Google the Web site count reporting the story is now up to 54 (including UPI and such financial outlets as RTT News and The Wall Street Journal).

[Mysterious Benefactor]

How sad. He may be claiming an effort to change his bullying ways, but apparently Perez Hilton still can't get his facts straight. He's reporting that if Depp can't work out his schedule to do the DS film, "Mark Wahlberg could be taking his place." But the fact of the matter is (as everyone else reporting that aspect of the situation is saying) it's not if Depp can't work out doing the DS film (he's already committed to it) - it's if he can't work out doing Triple Frontier that Mark Wahlberg might step into that film.

   

[KMR]

Oh wow!!! FINALLY some news that's as thrilling as when this thread first started!!! YAY!!! (I'm kind of excited, in case you can't tell...) 

[B.Collins]

stupid question but why in the hell  does he keep signing on to do this film or that film, if he hasn't even started "DS' yet?

funny thing  is if you look at IMDB which i realize can be wrong a LOT of the time. & has posted stuff wrong on a number of ocassions. johnny deep already has plenty of films in his schedule why does he keep signing on to do a film that won't be may until say maybe 5 years from now? i'm not referring to the movie that Marky Mark as i still know him as

in replacing him i mean. i'm referring to just roles in general. if you look at "Will Smith" films he has like 30 films or so in the line according to IMDB that he has yet to do any thing with. yet he also keeps signing on to do more roles. will smith most of the time only does what 1 film a year if that? sometimes 2 so you see my point. at least with Johnny Depp he sometimes releases 3 or 4 films a year.

[madscntst]

B.Collins, it's not a stupid question.  At the same time, you have to take all the info that you get from IMDb, blogs, entertainment websites, etc. with a grain of salt.  Not all of the projects are real- many are just silly rumors, such as Johnny being The Riddler in the next Batman movie, which *still* keeps popping up.  Even when an upcoming project is real or at least a real possibility, you have to take into account that many are years in the future, so realize that his agent is thinking of his longterm career and wants him to have staying power.  Also, the agent would still be thinking of possibilities in case something falls through, as so often happens in Hollywood.  Johnny hasn't necessarily "signed on" for most of these possibilities, and the same is probably true of Will Smith, though I'm less familiar with Smith's career.  Finally, at least on Johnny's list, many of the titles listed on IMDb as "in development" are ones that his production company is developing, that he may serve as a producer on but won't star in.  His career as a producer is just beginning, and many of the titles that his production company has options to produce are just possibilities- some of them may never even get developed.  The same may be true of Smith, too- I don't really know if he does any producing.

As far as Johnny's titles on IMDb:

The Thin Man- sounds like he will produce and star, but this is years into the future- there isn't even a screenplay

Wild Roses, Tender Roses- this one is probable. He is a friend of the producer, Emir Kusterica, and was originally slated to film this in early 2011, but it was pushed back a year or so, in part to make DS filming possible

My American Lover- Johnny and his real life love, Vanessa Paradis, want to star in this, but it is probably a couple of years off. I don't think there is a screenplay yet

Caliber- it has been said that Johnny would only produce, not star in this one

Affected Provincial's Companion- ditto

Inamorata- ditto

Dark Shadows- well, hopefully it will film in April!  

Rex Mundi- I do think he wants to star in this one, but it's been in development for years, and I haven't heard any news on it in awhile.  It's probably still a few years off

The People's Act of Love- I think he'd produce but not star

The Lone Ranger- he would star in this, and it may come up fairly soon, as I think there has just been another screenwriter hired (similar to what happened with DS)

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards- huh?  I don't know why this is on there  

In the Hand of Dante- I think he would only produce, not star

Happy Days- ditto

Shantaram- yikes, he wanted to produce and star in this one, and it almost got started 2 or 3 times, but it is in turnaround now.  I don't know if this film will ever get made at this point, and if it does, Johnny may no longer be attached

Sleeping Dogs- this is the Kathryn Bigelow film that seems unlikely now that Johnny has a specific start for DS, but it doesn't seem to have been officially ruled out yet

To add to IMDb's list, Johnny is still planning to produce (and probably appear in) a Keith Richards documentary, which filmed in part early this year.  I don't know what the status is of that.  

Hope this helps, and hope it wasn't too much boring info.  Just wanted to convey that such a long list isn't really that long when taken item by item.

Edited to add-- wow, I just realized that IMDb has finally taken off that stupid Incredible Mr. Limpet rumor, which I have never seen or heard credible evidence for.  Thank goodness! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

wow, I just realized that IMDb has finally taken off that stupid Incredible Mr. Limpet rumor, which I have never seen or heard credible evidence for.  Thank goodness! 

I see they were also smart enough to finally take down the third Batman movie, which was still there back in September. I suppose the most recent denial that the Riddler would even be a character in the film was the one that finally got through to them. Better late than never.   

[Miranda]

Okay, had not seen this here, but one of my kids showed me a post on the av club online site which they as film and video aficionados swear by that the Depp DS film is now set to start filming in April 2011, and that Depp had even withdrawn from another project so filming could start--hurray!!  Just want Angelique to be in this film, that was a BIG gap in HODS, not even having a brief flashback to the 1795 Josette/Barnabas/Angelique triangle...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Seth Grahame-Smith ... has completed the approved script for DS, which will include ... new story elements

One would certainly hope! A near complete retelling of the previous material would be incredibly boring, even though previous DS endeavours (the '91 series, the '93 scripts to turn the '91 series into a theatrical film franchise, and the '04 WB pilot (and quite possibly the '02 script that DC wrote for the FOX pilot that never went beyond the script stage)) tell us that's exactly what DC would want if he were still alive. But while no one wished the man to die, many fans, including myself, are very happy he's not around to push for the umpteenth reworking of hoDS. I'm really looking forward to learning what the fresh take on DS will be...

[LOOKE300]

what people on this board forget is that old ds fans are not the major target if this film is to be a box office success it has to have new people come and see it and the story will be new to them.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

We don't all forget that (one will come across similar remarks by other members just by checking this topic alone). And during such discussions I've even gone so far in the past few years as to say that the original DS fans are pretty much an insignificant group so far as the demographic WB will be mostly marketing the film to and hoping to attract.

That being said though, bringing new story elements can only help matters because, even discounting the original fans, there are still millions of people in the potential audience for the film who are aware of what the DS storyline has been in the past through exposure to the original series on the Sci-Fi Channel and the '91 series on NBC, the Sci-Fi Channel, and most recently Chiller. That segment of the audience needs to be attracted to the film, but no one wants to see them as bored to death with a complete rehash as many original fans would be.  

Don't get me wrong - I've never meant to imply that everything that's come before should be thrown out in order to go in a completely new direction. I'm simply saying add enough new elements so that the storyline appears fresh and exciting to not only the people who know nothing about DS, but also to those who do...

And just to put things in a bit of perspective, wanting to see new elements brought to new versions of DS isn't exclusive to the forum or even new because fans were crying for it with the '04 WB pilot, the proposed '02 FOX pilot, the proposed DS musical, and even in the various fanzines that were around when the '91 series was in development and the '93 film scripts based on the '91 series were being shopped around. 

[jimbo]

It's true. The DS movie is geared toward a whole younger audience than its original fan base. I just don't see it deviating greatly from DC's vision. It will only be at most a 2 hour movie and it has to allow sufficient time for character development. Most of the new audience will have never heard of the character Victoria Winters for example. The movie will essentially face the same issues like the WB 2004 pilot in terms of introducing many characters in a short time frame. I do think however that the storyline can certainly be very different IE how Barnabas is discovered. The movie may start in the past or in the future. I would be surprised if the new movie deviated greatly form the 1991 series. The only thing I am sure of is that we will not find this movie to be funny.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm hoping for changes more along the lines of the ones that were made for the '04 WB pilot, which, quite thankfully, was not a complete rehash of hoDS. Not those specific changes, mind you, because some of those changes were made to freshen the storyline for an ongoing TV series, which is a very different animal from even an ongoing film franchise. But changes that shake at least a few of the dynamics up a bit.