We reported way back in 2007 (right here) that Johnny Depp wanted to work on a film adaptation of cult US TV show Dark Shadows, a Gothic soap opera that Depp was apparently obsessed with as a child. Well, it's just moved that little bit closer: producer Richard D. Zanuck told Collider.com that it will be the next project for Tim Burton to direct, and will be starting next summer.
The plot follows a governess who arrives at the Collins family mansion to discover that all is not quite normal - and that paterfamilias Barnabas is, in fact, a vampire. Cue 1,225 episodes of Goth-tastic drama in what was basically a soap with fangs.
This will be the eighth time that Depp and Burton have worked together, and will follow pretty much straight on from their current collaboration on Alice in Wonderland, wherein Depp (somehow inevitably) plays the Mad Hatter. By our calculations, that makes them Hollywood's bestest best BFFs - but by any mathematical standard you can name, the combination of director, actor and subject matter for Dark Shadows sounds well-nigh unbeatable.