It sounds like Dark Shadows is definitely back on schedule, albeit a little more than a year later than originally anticipated.

According to SCI FI Wire, producer Graham King said the film would be in production by next fall. Producer Richard Zanuk previously said work on Dark Shadows would begin in summer 2009.

The movie adaptation of the classic 1960’s gothic soap opera, which featured vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other assorted creatures, will be directed by Tim Burton as his post-Alice in Wonderland project. Not surprisingly, Johnny Depp, who teamed with Burton on Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Sweeney Todd and the upcoming Alice will star as the brooding vampire Barnabas Collins.

Burton is finishing post-production on Alice in Wonderland. As such, King said he is already prepping production on Dark Shadows with screenwriters, to make it easier for Burton to slide into it next year.

"We're actually going to shoot that film next September/October with Tim Burton and Johnny," King said in a group interview Friday in Los Angeles. "We've been working on the script a lot, even though he’s working on Alice. We've been given a script. John August wrote the first screenplay. We're making some changes, but the film's going to be in production, as I say, September or October of next year."

Vampires are all the rage of late, thanks to the success of the Twilight movie series. But King, who produced the upcoming The Young Victoria, hinted that Dark Shadows would carve out its own niche.

"This is going to be Tim Burton and Johnny doing a vampire movie, right?" he joked.