Tim Burton & Johnny Depp Turn to Vampires Soap Opera with DARK SHADOWS Remake

The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Johnny Depp’s next film (after finishing the next installment of Pirates of the Caribbean) will be the Tim Burton re-imagining of the classic vampire soap opera Dark Shadows.

Apparently, Johnny Depp loved Dark Shadows show as a child and has been pushing the project with Burton's help for quite a few years. The film will start production April 2011.

Depp will portray Barnabas Collins, a vampire living in a Maine manor who is searching for his lost love.

If you're like me and you've I'never seen Dark Shadows here is some information about the series (which by the way seems like a much better show than Days of Our Lives, All My Children, etc.):

Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis, who tells of a dream he had in which a girl takes a long train ride to visit a large mansion. The story "bible," which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was unprecedented in daytime television when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began.

The series became hugely popular when, a year into its run, vampire Barnabas Collins (played by Jonathan Frid) appeared. Dark Shadows also featured werewolves, ghosts, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel (both into the past and into the future), and a parallel universe. 

 I've had about enough of vampires over the last couple of years, but Depp and Burton do routinely make some unique and unforgettable movies.  

What do you guys think? Are we done with vampires? Or is this exciting to you?

The Real Story of Alice & Wonderland

Paolo Pilotti has some produced beautiful, clever and funny art.  Gfest found this picture of Alice shooting up heroin under a tree to quite funny. 

I think Paolo is on to something.  Heroin may be the best explanation for the events that occurred in every Alice movie Gfest has ever seen.  

Despite, the fact that Lewis Carroll was not on drugs when he drafted the Alice books (although, Gfest still believes he rolled a fatty or two) , Paolo's work captures the spirit of the movies. 

Could Watching a 3D Movie Lead to Blackouts?

18-year-old college student Josh James went with friends to see the 3D film Alice In Wonderland starring Johnny Depp.  He liked his night at the movies but not the after effects which included blackouts and ended with Josh "standing in a country lane in the pitch dark, looking at my mangled car on its roof. Every panel and window was smashed in."

Amidst developing concerns about the effects of 3D movies and glasses on health and vision, Josh claimed that a blackout caused by adjusting to 3D had caused him to crash his car.

"It took ten minutes for my vision to adjust to 3D" he said. "My sight was unfocused - blurry one minute, fine the next. I also had a pain in my temples."