After Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp Does Barnabas Collins
Producer Richard D. Zanuck told Collider that plans for a feature film adaptation of Dark Shadows is still happening and Johnny Depp remains attached to the project as Barnabas Collins.
He confirmed that Tim Burton, currently directing Depp as the Mad Hatter in his Alice in Wonderland movie, is also on board. The two reportedly will segue right from the Looking Glass to Collinwood Manor. Depp’s work in a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film and The Lone Ranger are therefore expected to follow.
Zanuck told Collider that Depp has long been obsessed with the cult soap opera series, the first to tackle the supernatural, which ran on ABC from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. Depp has said in the past he would sneak out of school early to make it home to watch the show.
Various other adaptations of Dan Curtis’ show have been tried in the past including an NBC prime time revival with Ben Cross as the cursed vampire. The CW nearly went with a pilot written by Battlestar Galactica’s Mark Verheiden but Curtis’ interference marred the creative direction and the result was something the network felt it could not air.
Zanuck said production should begin in summer 2009 in London.