Edgar Wright to Make 'Night Stalker' for Disney with Johnny Depp
By: Woolf | Movie News | February 24, 2012
Well it looks like Edgar Wright and Johnny Depp are going from zombies and vampires to ... more zombies and vampires. Disney is looking to sign the Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World director for a remake of The Night Stalker, with the hopes that Depp will star. Depp's production company Infinitum Nihil will be responsible for getting the as-yet unscripted project to theaters.
The film would be a remake of the short-lived series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, which featured an investigative journalist who specializes in reporting the supernatural. A kind of prototypical The X-Files, The Night Stalker gained popularity through syndication and two TV movies, each dealing with reporter Carl Kolchak's investigations into the unknown.
Wright's signing may end up further delaying Ant-Man, a pet project he's been working on with Marvel Studios for the last couple years. Wright, who's specialty is deeply loved yet little seen cult comedies, could be making a big career leap by getting in bed with Disney.
Depp, meanwhile, would find a transition into The Night Stalker easy, having just completed a vampire-themed Dark Shadows remake with Tim Burton. Deadline reports that Depp's studio is also working on a dramatization of the midnight ride undertaken by Paul Revere.
Depp is currently shooting Disney's The Long Ranger (also rumored to have supernatural elements) with Gore Verbinski, so we'll have to wait to see if Depp's more interested in an undead invasion or a British one.