Johnny Depp, left, and Tim Burton promote Alice in Wonderland in Tokyo on March 22, 2010. The pair will collaborate for an eighth time with Dark Shadows. (Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty)

Johnny Depp and Tim Burton are collaborating on a film again, a big-screen adaptation of the old TV series Dark Shadows.

The popular gothic soap opera, which ended its run in 1971, centred on vampire Barnabas Collins and his assorted set of colleagues, including ghosts, zombies, werewolves and witches.

Depp will portray the main character and Burton is set to begin production in April 2011. The pair have been developing the project for three years.

Burton and Depp have collaborated on seven films since the 1990s, from Edward Scisssorhands to the recent 3D version of Alice in Wonderland.

Dark Shadows will be scripted by Pride and Prejudice and Zombies author Seth Grahame-Smith and John August, who wrote Big Fish.

Running from 1966 and 1971, with more than 1,200 episodes in the can, the show was a classic for those who grew up in that period. Depp is reportedly obsessed with the character of Collins, having watched the show as a child.

The 47-year-old actor is currently shooting Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides while Burton is working on a feature-length animated movie, Frankenweenie, based on his short film and set to unspool March 2012.