Johnny Depp is an entertaining and talented actor, no doubt, but if you’re one of many who wish he’d drop the shtick and take on a normal role for once you should probably just give up that particular pipe dream. He plays quirky and odd, period, and there may be no going back. Which is a shame because he was pretty great in Finding Neverland.

But hey, at least he’s managed to find another interesting project.

Deadline Matheson is reporting that Disney has signed Edgar Wright to direct an as-yet unwritten re-imagining of The Night Stalker with Johnny Depp as the embattled reporter Kolchak. Darren McGavin brought the intrepid journalist to life in the mid-seventies series as well as the two TV films that preceded it, and Depp’s peculiar peccadilloes make him a solid fit for the character.

Kolchak covered crime for a Chicago newspaper, and his specialty (or his curse) was in always getting the stories that involve the supernatural. He helped stop vampires, zombies, and more even as those around him failed to see the truth. It was a monster of the week show, like non-mythology episodes of The X-Files, but McGavin’s charm and the character’s attitude made it a fun series.

Wright should bring a healthy dose of personality to the project too as his films have all been chock full of energy and wit. Disney doesn’t have a script yet, so don’t expect this pairing until late 2013 at the earliest, but maybe that will give Wright time to finally direct Ant-Man or World’s End…