Tim Burton confirms lurking in Dark Shadows

We first mentioned the possibility of Johnny Depp starring as Barnabus Collins almost exactly two years ago, July 27, 2007. (so long ago, I was still going by my old nick, rollerboy, in the comments). I’m lagging a couple of days with this update, but Tim Burton has now announced the big screen resurrection of the legendary TV series will be his next project (Timing the confirmation to coincide with the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century? Coincidence? bwa-ha-ha!)

MTV had the Tim Burton interview yesterday, coming to us via firstshowing.net:

“…another Depp-focused project, one that has teased and tantalized movie nerds for years is finally, finally, going to get underway in 2010: ‚ÄúDark Shadows.‚Äù

“That’s something that [Depp and I] both love and are excited about,” the director told MTV News. “When I’m done with this I’ll definitely focus on that.”

Burton’s comments jibe with what Depp said during the ‚ÄúPublic Enemies‚Äù junket a few weeks ago. He told MTV’s Josh Horowitz that he‚Äôll be shooting ‚ÄúShadows‚Äù and a fourth ‚ÄúPirates of the Caribbean” film next year. There’s also the fact that in March, an executive in Depp’s production told us that the film “is very active” and “the studio will be making some announcements regarding it pretty soon. Very soon, probably.‚Äù

(Interesting to note in our excitement two years ago, another prominent vampire classic came up in discussion: Kathryn Bigelow’s After Dark Near Dark gets name-dropped in the comments.)

Shadows is a sorry gap in my pop culture education, but I’m eager to become a disciple in the realm of Collingwood. After the cut, there’s a scene from the original series.

Fine time to be reminded that even the most promising vampire movies can evolve from not-so-literary beginnings.