Depp plumbs vampire depths

LOS ANGELES, July 27 (UPI) -- Johnny Depp said he hopes to trade pirate's garb for medieval clothing of undead Barnabas Collins in Hollywood's take on the campy serial "Dark Shadows."

Depp's Infinitum-Nihil company is teaming with Warner Bros. and Graham King's GK Films to develop a feature based on the daytime supernatural soap opera, Variety reported Friday.

In interviews Depp said he wanted to portray Collins, the series' vampire patriarch originated by Jonathan Frid.

A rights deal just closed with the estate of Dan Curtis, the producer-director who created the ABC daytime drama that aired 1966-1971. Depp and King will produce with David Kennedy, who ran Dan Curtis Prods. until Curtis died last year of a brain tumor.

"Dark Shadows" achieved cult status as an atmospheric gothic tale of vampires, monsters, witches, werewolves, ghosts -- and humans -- that featured time travel and parallel universes during its run. The storyline has been the basis for two movies filmed in the 1970s.