Depp to Bring "Dark Shadows" to Light

Johnny Depp, perhaps Hollywood's most adaptable and versatile actor, is about to undertake the tale of the dark underworld in a remake of ABC's soap opera, "Dark Shadows." Depp's production company, Infinitum-Nihil, along with Graham King's GK Films, have purchased the rights to the supernatural series from the estate of the show's creator, Dan Curtis. Depp will be living out a childhood fantasy, as his dream of being lead character, Barnabas Collins, will come to fruition in the Warner Bros. movie adaptation.

Airing from June 27, 1966 through April 2, 1971, the daring soap opera was gothic in nature, and considered groundbreaking for its time. The show reached cult status when Jonathan Frid arrived as vampire Barnabas Collins. Unheard of before in daytime television, the program also introduced ghosts, werewolves and zombies, among other dark forces, into their storylines. "Dark Shadows" is also the only long running soap opera to have all original episodes released on VHS and DVD. Though only 1,225 shows aired, 1,245 are included on the release, (due to station pre-empts, holidays, etc.)

This is not the first stab for the drama to once again see the light of day. In 1970, Dan Curtis directed movies based on the show, "House of Dark Shadows" and "Night of Dark Shadows." Curtis later brought the cancelled program out of the tombs and back on the air briefly in 1990 on NBC, starring Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins. Refusing to die, "Dark Shadows" was brought back to life as a possible mid-season replacement with another remake in 2004, on the now defunct WB network, featuring Alec Newman as the enchanting nocturnal one; this was also an unsuccessful try. "Dark Shadows" still lurks on, however, as comics and yearly conventions spark and sustain a strong fan base. Celebrities have also pledged their devotion to the series; besides Depp, other famous fans include Queen of Pop Madonna and dark mastermind director Tim Burton.

Blessed with good looks and smoldering sex-appeal, Johnny Depp has never relied on roles where he could settle into being typecast as the pretty boy or the romantic lead. His career is wide-ranging, from playing quirky anomaly "Edward Scissorhands" to portraying undercover FBI agent "Donnie Brasco." Johnny made fans relate to "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", while surprising and creeping out audiences as murdering novelist Mort Rainey in 'Secret Window."

Recently, Depp has played the charmingly elusive, though bad luck, Captain Jack Sparrow in Disney's "Pirates" series, the third installment being "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." Johnny Depp has just finished with director and long-time collaborator, Tim Burton, on a movie version of Broadway Musical, "Sweeney Todd," where Johnny plays the infamous Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Johnny's next project is an adaptation of Gregory David Roberts' novel, "Shantaram," directed by Mira Nair and co-starring Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, Helena Bonham Carter and Emily Watson. Depp is also slated to revisit American journalist Hunter Stockton Thompson in 2008's "The Rum Diary," starring with Josh Hartnett and Benicio del Toro; his first portrayal was in 1998's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."