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

[Taeylor Collins]

IF she plays Julia I am done with it all!  NO seriously!  GRAYSON HALL~~Perfectiion.  BARBARA STEELE~~Perfectiion.  Helena no so much!  She does not have the "elan vital" to play Julia IMO!  I am sure a lot of people will disagree but I hope Burton doesn't direct if it means more nepotism!  I swer Tori Spelling (who I know doesn't hold a candle to Helena) was tore to shreds and she is in EVERY 'effin movie her husband makes and now one says a word!  I need to go..I am getting worked up over nothing--so far!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, look at it this way - if Tori Spellings' husband directed the Depp/DS film, maybe she would play Julia.    In that situation most DS fans would probably prefer Helena Bonham Carter. 

But seriously, I honestly haven't seen enough of Bonham Carter's work to judge. The only thing I can recall seeing her in was the '85 version of A Room with a View - and that was a long time ago.

[Nelson Collins]

Actually, I might buy Tori as Carolyn....

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Thankfully Tori's too old to play Carolyn. Well, unless they almost double Carolyn's age.

[Taeylor Collins]

Guys!   I am sorry I just went off on a tangant!!  I do like Helena B Carter and I think she is a talented actress, however, I just don't see the BS or GH factor in her. I loved both of those portrayls equally.  Unless she blew me away, I probably would have had a hard time warming up to KELLY HU because I just can't see her as Julia Hoffman. Something just says (to me) she (HBC) isn't right for Julia!    I didn't mean to get this topic way off.....forgive me! Or sound like a maniac.    Perhaps she could play an conniving Mrs. Johnson? 

OFF TOPIC:  I have always liked TORI and people thought I was so stupid.  She has a huge gay following!  I know she is a horrible actress but oh well, don't we all have our guilty pleasures??

Actually, I might buy Tori as Carolyn....

Poor Little Rich Girl....it's a thought and not much of a stretch! 

[michael c]

unfortunately ms.bonham carter is too old for any of the ingenue roles.so vicki,carolyn or maggie are out.

so is angelique.

so unlesss they create a new character it's liz,julia or mrs.johnson...or maybe laura.

[madscntst]

Hmm, Julia might be a good fit for HBC, but that might be a little too much like the relationship she had as Mrs. Lovett with Depp's Todd.

True, and I think I have seen this point brought up already and even agreed with it- I just forgot!    I was thinking more of the Julia-as-scientist angle, though, and somehow I can just picture HBC in a lab with test tubes.  And I agree she's too old to play a lot of the ingenue roles.  I think the best fit for her would actually be Crazy Jenny, but I dunno if they're gonna cast that character :-D

Cathy

[Zahir]

Honestly, I don't even see the issue.  Helena Bonham Carter is a marvelous actress who has played a variety of different roles.  Look at just a scattering of her films!  Room With A View, Lady Jane, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Fight Club, Twelfth Night, Sweeney Todd, Wings of the Dove, Harry Potter, Novocaine etc.

Twenty years ago she'd've been a good choice for Victoria or Carolyn or Angelique.  She has that kind of range.  Given her current age, she is a good choice of Julia, Elizabeth or Mrs. Johnson.

Sorry, but one thing that bothers me--as an actor myself--is how other actors get pigeon-holed for often-bizarre reasons.  James Doohan found his career virtually ruined because no one would believe he didn't speak with a Scots accent.  On another board, I read several people dismiss the possible casing of Kate Beckinsale in The Ring (she was under consideration) because it wasn't an action-oriented part (simply dismissing all of Beckinsale's work prior to Underworld and Van Helsing).  I vividly recall how loads of people reacted with disgust at Gary Oldman being cast as Dracula, based essentially on his take of Lee Harvey Oswald and Sid Vicious.  One of the most chilling human monsters I ever saw on film was in Once Upon A Time In The West.  The actor was Henry Fonda. 

People, we're talking about ACTORS.  If actors are good, they can play all sorts of different parts.  Christopher Lee keeps getting cast as the heavy, but I had the great good fortune to see him in Jinnah, wherein he wept with sorry.  In his autobiography he noted this was the only chance he'd had to show that kind of emotion in his career.  He was superb!  Likewise I saw Jonathan Frid on Broadway in Arsenic and Old Lace, essentially playing a brutal, sadistic thug.  He was great!  Anyone who got to see last weeks' SNL got to view Anne Hathaway doing a truly wonderful take on Mary Poppins--as slightly insane, and fairly promiscuous, mong other things.  I for one would love to see her play a villain!

Hmmmm...Anne Hathaway as Angelique....hmmmmmm....

Frankly, it is insulting as well as infuriating to read good actors dismissed in this way.  Helena Bonham Carter has the career she has--including all those awards and juicy parts--because she's good.  Any DS movie will be lucky to have her, whether Tim Burton directs or not.  The only real hestitation I have is that if she plays Julia she might be repeating herself, a la Mrs. Lovett.

[GooberCollins]

I'm not a fan of Bonham Carter personally, and frankly I'd rather not see her in DS (and to be perfectly frank, Tim Burton wouldn't have been my first choice to direct, either), but I've come to expect seeing her in Burton's films. Sticking his current girlfriend in his movies, be she HBC or Lisa Marie, is one of Burton's trademarks, and it would actually feel a little strange if there wasn't some nepotism involved.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Another article that mentions the DS film - but one that also poses an interesting question: Is Johnny Depp About to Get Overexposed?

[madscntst]

Interesting article, but too simplistic, in my opinion.  I mean, they are lumping The Lone Ranger and Dark Shadows together because they're both remakes of TV shows.  But I don't exactly expect them to be similar!  And I could be wrong, but I highly doubt that Johnny will portray Tonto (or Barnabas, for that matter) as a simplistic stereotype.  That said, some Depp fans are indeed worried about all the recent Disney announcements, and take them as a sign that Johnny's not taking "interesting" roles anymore.  But I say, wait and see!  Finally, the article makes no mention of the 2 films that are actually going to be released next: Public Enemies and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which are both pretty different roles for him.

The best thing about the article is that they admit that DS could be "pretty great."  I agree!!

[Taeylor Collins]

Zahir

HB is a good actress, I said that. I am glad that she was just marvelous in all those movies and I agree she was!   I just don't see her as Julia and you will never convince me of it.  And just because she is a good actress doesn't mean she belongs in DS. And I didn't have the balls to say it but I am not really all that thrilled that Burton is directing either!  Thanks GOOBER! You have your view and I have mine and I doubt either one of us is gonna budge.  So we can just agree to disagree!   

And please remember emotions cannot come across.  I was in no way trying to be a bitch!

[GooberCollins]

I'm ambivalent about Burton directing, primarily because I loved how natural the setting of HoDS felt, and I'd much rather see a Dark Shadows movie filmed on-location on some old New England estates than CGI'ing it over at Pinewood, which is what he'll probably do. The only current exception that I can think of is Big Fish, which was filmed in Alabama, though that may have something to do with Steven Spielberg originally being set up to direct that one. I also think that Johnny Depp is a great actor, but I'm not sure he would have been my first choice for Barnabas, either.

As for HBC, I admit that I thought, "Barnabas and Julia!" during Mrs. Lovett's wedding fantasy in Sweeney Todd, but I'd still rather see someone else - as I've said before, Juliet Landau, who's kind of in the middle of Hall and Steele, would be my ideal pick.

[Taeylor Collins]

HODS looks creepy.  I hope DS isn't too slicked over!  I really need to reitirate that am kind of torn with Burton.  On one hand I think he could do wonderful and one hand I think he could do terrible    Time will tell.  If they would at least let Robert do the music again and have crashing waves with DS splashed on the screen that will be make me %25 ready to go to the theater.  It would be good to have some of the old school touch to DS, in my opinion mix with completely new ideas. On a positive or sad note I am glad DC will not be involved.  I mean no disrespect to the man who brought us DS.  I HONOR HIM!   I just think he had one vision and one only! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I just think he had one vision and one only!

Gee, ya think? 

Personally, I hope the Depp/DS film is as little like hoDS as possible!