Johnny Depp - From Dark Shadows to The Ghost Ship?

"Johnny Depp to play Lawrenace Curator and his great grandson, Rod Curator, in THE GHOST SHIP!"

It's a Hollywood headline I'd love to read.

 

Those who know me know I love Johnny Depp. He's proved himself an actor of unsurpassed talent and originality. The best of our time. Examples: John Dillinger in Public Enemies; the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland; Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean; Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Willie Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And that's just a few since he first starred in Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984. 

Now comes the newly released Dark Shadows, and coming next year (2013), we'll see him as Tonto in the Lone Ranger. He is evil, kind, ugly and gorgeous. (The movie actor I got giddy over last was the young William Shatner in Star Trek.)

I haven't seen Dark Shadows yet - I'm waiting to see it with family - but I've read the reviews and the disappointing box office stats. I reserve judgment, but I can't help but wonder if the critics aren't missing the concept.

The original Dark Shadows television daytime soap, which first aired in 1966, was cheesy and campy with disparate plot lines that left a viewer wondering. With over 1200 episodes, the directors attempted to bring them together in subsequent episodes, but usually they continued to defy continuity and logic. If the movie, which was released May 11, follows the same style as the TV show, then I would venture to say it was a successful revisit to Barnabas Collins and his cast of ill-assorted creatures. However, if the reviewers want a vampire movie like Breaking Dawn, that would not be Dark Shadows.

Now for Mr. Depp's roles in the movie of my novel, The Ghost Ship. His first would be that of Commander Lawrence Curator, the ghost who meets a vulnerable young woman on the beach and takes her back in time to sail on the ghost ship. His quest is to learn why the five-masted schooner was scuttled on a beach in The Graveyard of the Atlantic.

After Lawrence and Ann Gavrion experience the scuttling, Ann is left to wash ashore and meet Rod Curator, Lawrence's great grandson - the second role for Mr. Depp. Rod's a rather surly young marine biologist who has lost his wife and doesn't believe a word Ann tells him about her voyage with his great grandfather.

Perfect roles for adventurous Johnny Depp. 

About Dark Shadows, I'll report back with my own review.

Gerrie Ferris Finger

THE GHOST SHIP

WHISPERING

THE LAST TEMPTATION

THE END GAME

HONORED DAUGHTER

WHEN SERPENTS DIE

WAGON DOGS

Novellas: HEARTLESS, MERCILESS