With Johnny Depp done shooting and handling publicity for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, it’s now time for him to get start working on his next film Dark Shadows, which is being directed by frequent collaborator Tim Burton. Their adaptation of the 1960’s vampire soap is now underway and production began in the UK this week, looking at a May 11th, 2012 release.
The film also picked up another cast member in the form of Johnny Lee Miller, who recently appeared in Danny Boyle‘s stage production of Frankenstein. He will play Roger Collins, the role that Martin Sheet was originally up for. Miller joins a cast that includes Johnny Depp, Eva Green, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham-Carter, Chloe Moretz, Bella Heathcote and Jackie Earle Haley.
And finally, wrapping up the Dark Shadows news, is the official plot summary, which you can see below.
In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Brouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.
Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.
Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David’s new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.
I’m not at all familiar with the original so I can’t comment to much on this but I do generally enjoy Burton/Depp collaborations. Alice In Wonderland may have been a step in the wrong direction but aside from that, most of their work together is quite enjoyable. The rest of the cast here is also looking quite promising, especially Chloe Moretz, who is one of Hollywood’s most talented young actresses.
Dark Shadows has a strong legion of die hard fans so hopefully Burton/Depp won’t disappoint. What do you think? Will the duo deliver?
