APRIL IN COLLINWOOD

[21.55 - French Time] Nikki Finke reports for Deadline that production of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows movie starring Johnny Depp (who else?) will start in April 2011 instead of January.

In July Deadline New York's Mike Fleming reported that novelist Seth Grahame-Smith (author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) would write the film, produced for Warner Bros by Depp’s company Infinitum Nihil and GK Films. John August (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) was the first scriptwriter to work on the project.

Dark Shadows was originally an atypical gothic soap opera - imagine Y&R with vampires, werewolves, or ghosts - aired by ABC from 1966 to 1971. It was created and produced by Dan Curtis and was centered around the wealthy Collins family (living in their Collinwood mansion). Its most popular character was vampire Barnabas Collins, played brilliantly by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid.

The daytime drama jumped to the big screen with two MGM movies: House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971). In 1991, NBC and Dan Curtis tried to revive Dark Shadows with British actor Ben Cross as Collins - but the primetime show didn't last more than 12 episodes. In 2004, the WB network ordered a pilot for a new and younger version but the show was never picked up.

Johnny Depp always wanted to play Barnabas but we still cannot imagine him in the role.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/11/exclusive-johnny-depp-to-start-dark-shadows-in-april-with-tim-burton-directing/

See also:

http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2010/07/collinwood-revisited-again.html
http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/12/scream-too.html
http://darkshadowsnews.blogspot.com/

COLLINWOOD REVISITED (AGAIN)

[18.22 - French Time] Deadline New York's Mike Fleming reports that novelist Seth Grahame-Smith, author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2009), has been hired to script of the incoming Dark Shadows movie adaptation of the 60s daytime serial directed by Tim Burton and starring (who else?) Johnny Depp.

Originally an atypical gothic soap opera - imagine Y&R with vampires, werewolves or ghosts - Dark Shadows (1966-1971) was created and produced by Dan Curtis. This ABC daytime drama was centered around the wealthy Collins family (living in their Collinwood mansion) and its most popular character was vampire Barnabas Collins, played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid.

The soap jumped to the big screen with two MGM movies: House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971). In 1991, NBC and Dan Curtis tried to revive Dark Shadows with Brit actor Ben Cross as Collins - but the primetime show didn't last more than 12 episodes. In 2004, the then-WB network ordered a pilot for a new and younger Dark Shadows but the show was never picked up.

The Tim Burton movie, starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas, is due to begin production in January 2011. Depp’s company Infinitum Nihil and GK Films are producing for Warner Bros. John August (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) was the first scriptwriter to work on the project.

And unfortunately we still cannot imagine Depp as Barnabas Collins.

http://www.deadline.com/2010/07/seth-grahame-smith-scripting-dark-shadows-as-tim-burton-pic-gets-closer-to-start-line-with-johnny-depp/

See also:

http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/12/scream-too.html
http://darkshadowsnews.blogspot.com/