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

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Oh my goodness, ProfStokes!  How great would that be?!  It's too perfect to be real... or is it?   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I just noticed that the Depp/DS film has hit an all-time new high of 182 on IMDb's MOVIEmeter. What is MOVIEmeter, you might ask? Well, as defined by IMDB, "MOVIEmeter rankings provide a snapshot of what movies are hot based on the searches of millions of IMDb users. Updated weekly, these rankings also graph the popularity of movies over time and determine which events affect public awareness."

IMDb attributes the current 182 ranking to all the publicity surrounding the casting of Thomas McDonell and particularly Chloe Moretz. Apparently Moretz is quite a popular young lady - more popular than any of us may have realized. And to put that 182 into perspective:

• The week of March 27th, when Michael Sheen's rumored casting was being reported, DS achieved a ranking of 830 (having shot up from 860 the week before).

• The week of February 20th, when Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter were being reported, DS achieved a ranking of 582 (having shot up from 995 the week before).

• The week of February 6th, when Eva Green and Jackie Earle Haley were being reported, DS achieved a ranking of 586 (having shot up from 1,372 the week before).

Some more perspective facts:

• The Depp/DS film actually started out on the MOVIEmeter with a ranking of 18,214 the week of August 5, 2007.

• It hit its all-time low with a ranking of 41, 428 the week of February 10, 2008.

• It shot way up to 7,280 when news of Tim Burton directing was finally confirmed the week of June 8, 2008.

• It leapt way up to 1,661 the week of June 15, 2008 based on the same news.

• It hit its previous high of 515 the week of August 10, 2008 still based on the same news along with Depp's casting in Alice in Wonderland.

• It slipped all the way down to 1,047 by the week of September 21, 2008.

• The erroneous reports of DS being "kaput" brought it up to 693 the week of October 12, 2008.

• It slid down to 1,165 by the week of November 16, 2008.

• News that DS was seriously being considered as Burton and Depp's next move brought it up to 747 the week of December 7, 2008.

• When that didn't pan out, it slipped down to 12,918 by February 22, 2009.

• It got a slight bump to 11,844 the week of March 22, 2009 based on initial reports that it was still 'very active.'

• It leapt up to 1,951 the week of June 28, 2009 based on Depp's interviews that 'Dark Shadows is happening.'

• By the week of November 15, 2009, it slipped back down to 6,975.

• Reports that DS would begin shooting in the fall of 2010 brought it up to 4,094 the week of December 13, 2009.

• It slipped down to 6,440 by the week of February 7, 2010.

• A new set of interviews from Burton and Depp concerning Alice and DS brought it up to 2,593 the week of March 7, 2010.

• It slipped down to 7,064 by June 27, 2010.

• Reports of Seth Grahame-Smith being brought on as the new script writer brought it up to 4,858 the week of July 25, 2010.

• It slipped down to 9,472 by the week of October 3, 2010.

• News that DS would begin shooting in "Early 2011" only brought it back up to 7,993 the week of October 10, 2010. (Given how previous reports/rumors had not materialized, people were probably shy about believing it at that point.)

• It slipped down to 12,300 by October 31, 2010.

• Confirmed reports in the trades of an April 2011 start brought DS up to 1,226 the week of November 14, 2010.

• Another set of Burton/Depp interviews brought it up to 945 the week of December 12, 2010.

• And it has only fallen down to 1,470 by the week of January 16, 2011 before the Eva Green and Jackie Earle Haley casting news broke.

It's probably also worth noting that IMDb lists the cast members based on their personal STARmeter. Some may be shocked at how high Chole Moretz ranking really is (which is no doubt why her casting has caused the film itself to jump so high).

Here are their rankings (and even though HBC isn't currently listed on IMDb, I'm including her as well):

Johnny Depp ... Barnabas Collins    10

Chloe Moretz ... Carolyn Stoddard    12

Eva Green ... Angelique Bouchard    88

Helena Bonham Carter ... Dr. Julia Hoffman  127

Michael Sheen    173

Michelle Pfeiffer ... Elizabeth Collins Stoddard    328

Jackie Earle Haley ... Willie Loomis    542

Thomas McDonell ... Young Barnabas Collins    1,298

Bella Heathcote ... Victoria Winters    2,275

Gulliver McGrath ... David Collins    12,591


Changing reels entirely, just for the fun of it I looked up the definition of a black comedy in the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms:

"black comedy: a kind of drama in which disturbing or sinister subjects like death, disease, or warfare, are treated with bitter amusement, usually in a manner calculated to offend and shock."

That would most definitely jibe with the descriptions we've been getting of the Depp/DS film being dark, bloody and scary along with it being funny. But it doesn't necessarily fit in with fears that the film itself will be a comedy rather than a drama with comedic elements to it. So, if the Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms' definition is the sort of black comedy that Eva Green was trying to sort of describe, it wouldn't appear that there's all that much to worry about. Treating death with bitter amusement can easily slip into the DS universe. In fact, I would hazard a guess that it's already been a part of the DS universe and we could find examples if we went looking for them...


Also:

Oh my goodness, ProfStokes!  How great would that be?!  It's too perfect to be real... or is it?  

Yes, that would be quite an interesting twist if it turns out to be the way things will play out.

[Nancy]

Thanks for doing all that research and sharing it.  Very interesting.

[Gothick]

And yet, we still don't know whether Vicki/Mickie/Mackie/Vaggie (??) is going to be a waitress or a governess.  Ah well...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Maybe it's just me, but Vaggie has an air of the obscene to it, in which case I love it! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Another hilarious Burton parody, only this one sends up Burton as well as Boham Carter and Depp:

At Home With The Burtons

"I used to be your wife, Tim." Too much!  

[Miss_Winthrop]

Just caught an episode of the 'Prisoner' with Patrick MacGoohan which had Josette's Music Box theme (early version).  Very cool.  Seeing this makes me wonder if there will be any reference to a music box in the new movie.  Black comedy as explained above gives me some hope that the movie won't be a slapstick affair.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Well, they had better have a music box, and it had better have Cobert's theme.  Josette's Music Box is an essential element of the Barnabas-Josette love story.  It is the symbol of their affection, and Cobert's theme is the representation of their love.  I would hope everyone involved in the new project realizes this.  (Not that I feel strongly about the matter or anything...)

[Taeylor Collins]

With so many unknowns who knows if we will see Josette; however, I am pretty much thinking we will since there is going to be a young Barney.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Taeylor, do not speak of such things! 

Anyway, all reports indicate that whoever this Victoria Winters girl is, she does indeed resemble the lost love of Barnabas Collins.  So, let's keep our fingers crossed that said lost love is Josette and not some impostor.   

[Doug]

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/eva-green-discusses-playing-morgan-174208

I watched the first two episodes of "Camelot" where Eva Green's character performed some kind of a pagan ritual. To me she is just right for the role of Angelique. But I wonder will her hair be blond?

[Zahir]

I'm not worried about the lack of Josette.  What really interests me is the whole idea of Carolyn being 14 (or 15--Miss Moretz can pass).

[Joeytrom]

Eva Green was in a great movie called The Dreamers about a teenage brother & sister in France befriending an American boy their age.  It takes place in France 1968 during the riots.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

So...  I wonder who is playing Dr. Julia Hoffman...  HBC's name has been on and off IMDB, and now it's off again. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Just because HBC's name appears and disappears on IMDb, I wouldn't necessarily discount that she will play Julia. There's a great deal of weirdness on IMDb. Remember they were the Web site that single-handedly started the whole idea of Kirsten Van Wagner playing Vicki - and we all know where that went.    At least with HBC, there are plenty of other places reporting she will be Julia, so her casting has far more credibility than Van Wagner's casting ever did. It just may be that whoever handles the DS listing on IMDb is waiting for HBC's casting to be reported in/on one of the trade papers/Web sites. Of all the actors mentioned for the film, HBC would appear to be the only one who has never been reported there. Though unlike Van Wagner, at least there have been legitimate interviews with HBC in which she says she probably will do the film.


Moving on to another topic, who knows why the person writing the following report thinks Angelique will curse Elizabeth in the new film? I suppose it is possible that they'll be doing some version or other of the Elizabeth's obsession with death plot. Or should we just presume the writer actually made a typo and meant to say Angelique will curse Barnabas? Who knows?  

From General Zod being cast in Man of Steel, the Hangover Part II trailer and Dark Shadows casting news to Glenn Beck leaving TV, Snooki getting a spin-off show and more, 411's Shawn S. Lealos breaks down the Right, wrong, and Ridiculous from the week in Movies/TV!

One also has to wonder if they're embellishing on their own by saying Roger almost lost the family fortune or if that is an actual plot point in the film?