JOHNNY DEPP IS BARNABAS COLLINS

Ever since he portrayed Captain Jack Sparrow, it seems highly unlikely that anyone thinks there’s a role that Johnny Depp can’t pull off, a point he drove home while portraying Willy Wonka in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Well now Depp is about to make claim to one of his childhood heroes, vampire Barnabas Colllins.

   A lifelong fan of ABC’s 1966-71 soap opera Dark Shadows, which centered around the inadvertent resurrection of Barnabas Collins and his return to the family homestead, Collinwood, Depp has, according to Variety, just sealed a deal to portray Barnabas in a big screen version of the series. “A rights deal just closed with the estate of Dan Curtis, the producer/director who created the soap. Depp and Graham King [of GK Films] will produce with David Kennedy, who ran Dan Curtis Productions until Curtis died last year of a brain tumor.”

   Barnabas was originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid on the soap and in the 1970 feature film, House of Dark Shadows. In 1991 NBC resurrected the show in a one-hour prime-time version with British actor Ben Cross as the fanged one. Unfortunately the show only lasted 13 episodes, falling victim to the Gulf War and the fact that nobody was watching the show due to war coverage. In 2004 the WB shot a pilot for a proposed new series that saw Alec Newman cast in the role of Barnabas, but that show never went to series – which was particularly painful to fans of Joss Whedon’s Angel. Rumor has it that the primary reason the WB cancelled that David Boreanaz series was because the network didn’t want two vampire shows on at the same time, and since they would own the rights to Dark Shadows (Fox owns Angel), it seemed like a better deal.

   What eccentric quality will Depp bring to the role of Barnabas? No one knows for sure, but since the character’s background had him chained in his coffin by his father in the mid 1790s and he was accidentally freed from that coffin by Willie Loomis in the present, one can assume that Depp will have some dramatic fun playing the character’s fish-out-of-water quality as he desperately tries to pass himself off as a cousin from England.

Comments

[Esther Nash]

Wonderful!!!!! I can't wait for the movie....and hopefully, (as is mentioned in the original letter), a continuation of the DS franchise as possibly more movies....and maybe a new (nighttime!) series on TV!

: )

PS...................

FANTASY (?) CASTING...ONE FAN'S OPINION, FOR WHAT
IT MAY BE WORTH.....

I suspect that the casting of original, 1966 series cast members might prove expensive...........but I also am positive that fans would love this....and maybe see the movie more times! Of course, the casting of former DS stars is contingent on their prior personal committments, and also their desires to return to these roles. However, if and when they do, here is a list of my Oartial, personal casting suggestions, for what it may be worth:

JOSHUA COLLINS / ROGER COLLINS
JONATHAN FRID ( ! )

ELIZABETH COLLINS STODDARD / NAOMI COLLINS
LARA PARKER

PROFESSOR STOKES / BEN STOKES
JOHN KARLIN

REVERAND TRASK / TONY
PETERSON
JERRY LACY ( ! )

DR. JULIA HOFFMAN / THE
COUNTESS NATALIE DU PRES:
KATHRYN LEIGH SCOTT

Putting original cast
members in the film (and series?) would also prove
a strong bond between parents (who saw the original series), and children.....who will be experiencing DS Magic for the first time!

Hopefully I'm not overstepping what fans do here.....but I give my opinions for what, if anything, they may be worth!

DARK SHADOWS FOREVER.......
AND EVER!!!!!