Deadline’s Mike Fleming can’t seem to enjoy his vacation. Filing from wherever he’s taking a siesta, it looks like either Nikki is cracking the whip or Fleming can’t turn off his Blackberry. Anyway, it looks like he’s been making some calls over to Johnny Depp‘s Infinitum Nihil production company has some updates on a couple new projects brewing for the actor, making for a total of three today if you add our exclusive story today about “In The Hand Of Dante” with Julian Schnabel so let’s get started shall we?
First up, Depp is developing a remake of the 1972 made-for-TV horror pic “The Night Stalker” which spawned the television series “Kolchak: The Night Stalker.” Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, the film tracked Las Vegas newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak as he investigated the murders perpetrated by a vampire. No writers are on the project yet, but Depp certainly seems to be feeling the supernatural vibe of late. He’s currently hard to work with Tim Burton on another TV remake of the ’60s series “Dark Shadows.” And there seems to be trend developing of refreshing old television horror pics as the Guillermo Del Toro produced redo of “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark” is landing later this summer.
But it’s not all spooky stuff that Depp has his eye on. Over at Disney, he’s got a movie about Paul Revere set up with — somewhat troublingly — “Batman Forever” writers Lee and Janet Batchler penning the screenplay. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that movie will focus on the 24-hour period in which Revere rode from Charlestown to Lexington.
And oh yeah, remember last week what reports surfaced that Depp was getting set to sign to a fifth installment of “The Pirates Of The Caribbean” franchise? Looks like “insiders” — or Depp’s people — are pouring cold water on that story for now. But with ‘On Stranger Tides‘ crossing the $1 billion dollar mark it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” and likely Disney might want to make the splashy announcement themselves at D23 in August so don’t be surprised if he winds up signing anyway.
So, which will go first? Could be anything really. Like any A-list star — think Will Smith or Brad Pitt — Depp tends to have a ton of projects in development at any given moment and tends to see which one rises to the top before deciding on anything. So if this is the last you hear on these for a while, don’t be too surprised.
