Johnny Depp to star in Dark Shadows

Los Angeles - The Pirates of the Caribbean actor has been signed up by long-time collaborator Tim Burton to work on the vampire project, an adaptation of a TV soap opera.

The movie has been in the works for three years, and Warner Bros has finally given the green light for the project to begin shooting in April, Heat Vision Blog reports.

Depp, 47, will play a vampire named Barnabas Collins, who lives in Maine, and is searching for a lost love.

Richard Zanuck, Christi Dembrowski and Graham King are to produce the film, which has been written by Seth Grahame-Smith and John August.

The casting news may be bad news for Snow White and the Huntsman, in which Depp was asked to play the role of huntsman, as the movie is planned to go into production around the same time.

Tom Hardy had already turned down the opportunity to star in the fairytale reimagining due to schedule clashes.