Recently the movie news world was abuzz with the idea that Dark Shadows, the movie version of the weird gothic vampire soap opera from the 60s, was heading to the big screen soon. The project has been in the works for a long, long time and Johnny Depp – a major fan of the property – has been set to play Barnabas Collins, with Tim Burton directing. The official word was always ‘soon,’ but late last year the word seemed to be ‘shooting in 2010.’
Not so fast. Talking to producer Graham King at today’s Edge of Darkness press day, I learned that the film is in no shape to shoot anytime soon. In fact, King said, they’re still waiting for a script.
King was savvy and wouldn’t say too much else – he knows how internet rumors (like Dark Shadows shooting this year) get started with careless slips of the tongue misconstrued by boneheads like me – but the fact that there is no script means that the movie (which isn’t rushing to meet a date) might still have some time before it gets started.
That said, expect a script to possibly come into shape as Tim Burton finishes up his Alice in Wonderland duties, which are now mostly technical.