Depp and Burton Meet Again in the 'Shadows'?

Hold on to your hats: Tim Burton and Johnny Depp might make the long-awaited TV adaptation Dark Shadows their seventh film together. IESB is reporting that writer John August is dividing his time between Peter Segal's Shazam flick and Burton's Dark Shadows. Now, to this point, no director had been named in connection with the production, which Depp is shepherding through his production company Infinitum-Nihil. But if Depp's producing and he has an unhealthy obsession with lead character Barnabas Collins and John August has written for Burton three times before (and for the team of Burton and Depp twice) and if August didn't just misspeak and Tim Burton is directing Dark Shadows, then isn't it kind of unavoidable that we'll see another installment in one of the most fruitful director-actor relationships of all time? It was announced last summer that Depp would lead the effort to transform the cult vampire soap opera into a film and if these pieces fit, that's going to be quite an assemblage. Depp is perfect for so many roles, and now that audiences have seen his fangs as Sweeney Todd, this is a logical extension. Burton is the most gothic mainstream director of all time, with apologies to Fritz Lang, who shouldn't care because he's been dead for thirty years. Obviously, the chemistry between Depp and Burton is no secret, as Burton understands Depp better than any other director and vice versa. The connection between August and Burton doesn't go back as far, but it's clear that they're on the same page, too. Suddenly, I can't see an argument against all of this. Let's just hope it plays out this way.