Michelle Pfeiffer Wants To Remake Dark Shadows After Tim Burton & Johnny Depp’s $245M Adaptation

Michelle Pfeiffer longs for a return to the shadows.

The dark fantasy realm is of course familiar to Pfeiffer, thanks to her roles in films like the superhero sequel Batman Returns. The Oscar nominee’s latest project, Apple TV’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, co-stars her with Nicole Kidman in a story that couldn’t be farther from the Tim Burton-crafted world she lived in as Catwoman. But Pfeiffer seems ready for more gloomy horror-tinged fiction ala Burton, as she’s expressed interest in re-making a cult classic 1960s vampire soap opera admired by her Batman Returns director.

“Dark Shadows,” Pfeiffer replied when asked in a recent interview (via Variety) to name a show from all of TV history she wishes she’d been in. The star indeed shared the screen with the likes of Johnny Depp in Burton’s 2012 movie Dark Shadows, but Pfeiffer wants to go back to the serialized source. “But I’d like to redo the TV show,” she said. “That would be fun.”

Centered on vampire Barnabas Collins and the rest of the macabre Collins clan, the original ABC show ran from 1966 to 1971, building a dedicated cult following. Dark Shadows was first revived for a 1991 reboot show that only lasted 12 episodes thanks to low ratings, then came back again in the hands of the aforementioned Burton as a feature film, with Depp as Barnabas, and Pfeiffer as family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.

Burton’s darkly funny treatment helped Dark Shadows to a $245 million gross on a budget of $150 million. Critics didn’t care for the film very much, however, complaining of its haphazard tone while sending it to a 35% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Plans to launch a second TV revival were reported back in 2019, with the CW and executive producer/writer Mark B. Perry (Picket Fences) bringing the Collins clan back from the dead for a show to be titled Dark Shadows: Reincarnation. By November of 2020, it was reported that reincarnation was indeed not in the cards for Dark Shadows just yet, as the show was no longer being developed. In August 2021, Perry said the show was being reworked with the intention of shopping it to networks.

Pfeiffer’s new remarks about wanting to star in a Dark Shadows series reboot may indeed be a very indirect expression of some kind of involvement with or interest in Perry’s currently stalled Reincarnation. The star has a connection to Perry through Margo’s Got Money Troubles creator David E. Kelley, who also created Picket Fences, the show on which Perry served as a writer-producer, and which featured Pfeiffer herself in a one-off cameo.