It's official: Dark Shadows returns as a film with Johnny Depp

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I plan on watching all of Dracula very soon.

Get ready to see how DC lifted scenes shot for shot out of his version of Dracula and dropped them into the '91 Series. Apparently simply doing the same with hoDS wasn't enough for him.

Speaking of Bob, when do we suppose we'll hear who shall be doing the music for the film?  Is that usually done after filming is complete?

Scoring is one of the last things to be done with a film. Though that doesn't mean that we'll have to wait that long before we might hear who will score the Depp/DS film.

At the moment Danny Elfman is listed on IMDb - but "rumored" is also listed after his name.

[madscntst]

Didn't Bob Cobert recently say that he was going to consult or collaborate on the movie, even though he is happily retired?  And I do seem to remember Elfman's name coming from somewhere in addition to IMDb.  It's not a stretch- there are very few Burton movies that Elfman did *not* do the music for (Ed Wood and Sweeney Todd are the only ones I can recall).

Re. a blond Frankenstein monster, this probably doesn't count, but Rocky Horror immediately came to mind 

[michael c]

at this point i certainly don't find the 'variety' omission to be remotely "fascinating" but more annoying than anything else and a bit disturbing.

it's almost like they're doing something that they know might upset fans. like creating an unknown character outside the traditional DS mythology. if it's not vicki or maggie who the heck is she?

i realize that "we" are not necessarily the target audience for this thing as it needs to appeal to millions of new viewers completely unfamiliar with these characters. but still it would be upsetting if this ends up being an outside character.

the good will of the highly devoted fanbase would go a long here.

[jimbo]

I think all the words mentioned here regarding what role Bella will be playing are applicable. There is no doubt in my mind that Variety is intentionally witholding that information. The question is why it refuses to divulge said information. I think it is irresponsible for this famed publication to take this position. Its reporting looks sloppy and intentionally incomplete. Variety didn't think enough to ask the DS producers what character (name) she will be playing? Isn't this journalism 101? Is it because by revealing her character's name it would reveal a storyline that TPTB don't want us to know? All we know is that the character Victoria Winters will be in the movie and maybe Maggie Evans too. Maybe Victoria Winters is first a waitress and then is asked to be the governess? There is no reason to speculate about Bella's role. Variety needs to be more journalistic responsible imo.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Didn't Bob Cobert recently say that he was going to consult or collaborate on the movie, even though he is happily retired?

The only thing I recall is Taeylor's posts saying that a friend who knows Cobert told him that Depp and Burton have been trying to persuade Cobert to work in some capacity on the film but that he didn't know if Cobert would or not.

Re. a blond Frankenstein monster, this probably doesn't count, but Rocky Horror immediately came to mind 

How quickly we forget!  

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Variety didn't think enough to ask the DS producers what character (name) she will be playing?

I really doubt that's the case - especially considering that with all the other actors they have included their character names in their reports.

Is it because by revealing her character's name it would reveal a storyline that TPTB don't want us to know?

That could be behind the reasoning - I don't know. But I would definitely hazard a guess that the reason no character name has been included for Bella Heathcote's character is because the person connected to the Depp/DS film who is supplying Variety with its info doesn't want the character name published just yet and Variety is accommodating them (and the fact that they are accommodating them is what I find so fascinating). We can only speculate why that is. But I wouldn't blame Variety for the omission.

[madscntst]

I honestly don't think there is anything diabolical involved.  Variety is not sitting around just waiting for every piece of information for DS alone- it has hundreds of other projects that it is reporting on.  It gets what information it is given to publish, and if it's incomplete to us, it's because as MB said, it is because that is all the info they have at present.  It doesn't mean it won't publish more later.  I don't think the writers at Variety are sweating it as much as we are!

There could be any number of reasons why Bella's character wasn't named, from either that they felt the main point was to name the actress and the type of role she would play, not thinking this character's name was necessarily important (YES, I know it's important to us diehards, but to most of the film world it is just a detail), or that she will possibly be a character that is neither Vicki nor Maggy and the name thus not important right now.  For The Rum Diary, I remember it was awhile before all the characters werie named, and it ended up having to do with one main character being omitted and others being combined- it took awhile before the eventual names were listed.  Another possibility was that somehow the name could be a spoiler of some sort.  For Sweeney Todd, one character's name was changed a couple of times in news reports because it was a spoiler (if you've seen the movie or the show, you know what I mean).  In this case, it could have to do with a flashback to another/dual role (Josette?)  

Let's try to be objective here, the filming hasn't even started yet- there is plenty of time to learn all the details.  Heck, just yesterday I was looking at the Rango listing on IMDb, and I saw that Johnny is playing Rango and "Lars".  Who the heck is Lars??  And it's less than 2 weeks before the film is released, if "Lars" even turns out to be legit. Just trying to point out that it's not that unusual for not all the info to be immediately known.  

All this said, of course, I can't wait to know the answer!  

[jimbo]

I believe I am being objective here and I stand by my previous post. If you don't believe I am being objective then so be it.

[madscntst]

And I stand by mine.  My post was WELL within reason, and if you don't like what I say, jimbo, then so be it. 

[jimbo]

Madscntst my post was well within reason. I stand by it. Madscntst if you don't like it so be it.

[Midnite]

Let's please let it go at that.

[Taeylor Collins]

I am just happy that the movie is finally coming together.  That is all.   And yes I did mention a friend of mine is very close with Bob.  Johnny has contacted him but I don't know what capacity he may work in.  As I said before I am sure that sounds odd; however,he said I could tell people as long as I mention his name. He is a very private man.  I assure you though he is VERY close with Cobert.

[David]

Amen, Taeylor.
With so many Hollywood A listers coming aboard, this film will put DS on a level playing field with Star Trek.

[michael c]

why do we care about being "on a level playing field" as star trek?

isn't our relatively small but loyal fanbase enough? i don't think it needs to turn into such a circus.

[Taeylor Collins]

This is all I am going to say cause I don't want to get off topic. I am thankful for our small loyal fan base but I wouldn't mind for many many more to come into the fold. Why not?  DS should be shared with many people. It's an amazing piece of work.

On the Star Trek front I was just saying that Star Trek people seem to be happy with anything Star Trek. And I am not a Trekkie by any means. However, I have been watching Next Gen and it's a quality show. Yet this fandom seems closed minded. I just think if we had more open people in this fandom we may see a show someday about David and his kids and family and/or other spin offs of the DS franchise.

Whether we like it or not, this movie is probably going to be a BIG deal and bring all kinds of new people to Dark Shadows.  There will be many who aren't tainted by the original (I don't mean that disrespectfully) who will just watch it because JD's name is attached.  If it's anything like Alice it's going to be huge. So we may want to prepare ourselves for it.

I am looking forward to hearing more hopefully this next week about the new movie.  I am hoping we get confirmation about Michelle P. I am so hopeful she is going to be ECS!  And hopefully we will get some more confirmation on who else may be in the movie and what the plot may be. Although, I am thinking that the plot is probably under lock and key.