Dark Shadows, a new version of the 1970s gothic drama, will be Tim Burton’s next directing project; he’ll embark on that in summer 2009, when he finishes the current Alice in Wonderland for Disney. Dark Shadows will be a Warner Bros. production and will star (who else?) Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins. So says producer Richard Zanuck, who took time during the press day for Jim Carrey’s Yes Man to mention Dark Shadows–thank you very much, Mr. Zanuck! We really appreciate the news. Thanks also to Steve “Frosty” Weintraub, who posted a video of his interview with Mr. Zanuck on Collider.com. Here is a transcript of those remarks:

Q: What project are you guys currently working on, or other things that people can be looking forward to [after Yes Man]?

Zanuck: I’m doing, this next summer, with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, Dark Shadows, which is an old ’70s soap opera here in the United States.

Q: Isn’t that the one the Johnny Depp was, like, obsessed with?

Zanuck: He owns it, and he was obsessed as a young person . . . used to sneak out of school to get home to turn on the television set. It was a very popular show for about 4 or 5 seasons.

Q: Do you see that as Tim’s definite next project? Because he’s been attached to a lot of stuff–

Zanuck: That’s his next project, yeah.

The Zone thanks FANtasticJD for sharing the good news; you can read more about Dark Shadows on the Zone’s News & Views forum. To see the Weintraub interview with Richard Zanuck, CLICK HERE. –Part-Time Poet