Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[jimbo]

That is true especially for most of us who are not in the industry. Now see most of these bloggers quickly backtracking.
I guess there isn't a Sarah Collins.

[Gothick]

A few random thoughts about the new photo:

They gave Nancy Barrett's Carolyn '69-'70 hair to Angelique this time around.  Interesting choice.

Fans who have never been physically to Seaview may not appreciate how the set design is playing upon elements of both the original Seaview and the Sy Tomashoff Collinwood designs.

It looks from this photo as if Michelle Pfeiffer's Liz is going to have more bite than I had envisioned.  Definitely an improvement in every way upon poor, mis-cast, non-directed Blair Brown.

I definitely see intimations of the Addams Family, particularly in the Pugsley and Wednesday affect on David and Carolyn, and "Grandmama" Mrs. J slumping in the background.

I think Helena and Jonny Lee Miller may have had a competition as to who could sneer the most coldly and keenly.  Helena's stance and look is very reminiscent of the publicity shot for Grayson's disastrous Edith Efron January 1971 TV Guide interview. Only with about 200 more layers of face powder added.

It's hard to know how to react to Barnabas at this point.  I feel as if I need a better look but I would be lying if I didn't admit intense relief upon this first, officially posed glimpse.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Now see most of these bloggers quickly backtracking.

It's definitely heartening to see that many of the biggest detractors are now backtracking, if not actually eating their words.  

I guess there isn't a Sarah Collins.

Didn't we theorize somewhere along the way as to why there probably wouldn't be a need for Sarah to humanize Barnabas in the film? When I get a chance I'm going to have to see if I can locate that...

231 days 8 hours 34 minutes 22 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[jimbo]

Yes there was but I was hoping to see Sarah's and David's interaction. Being nostalgic I guess.

[Janet the Wicked]

Who's the freakish hermit to Barnabas' left? Do not tell me that is supposed to be Willie.

[KMR]

Fans who have never been physically to Seaview may not appreciate how the set design is playing upon elements of both the original Seaview and the Sy Tomashoff Collinwood designs.

I saw a very striking resemblance to the layout of the drawing room of Lyndhurst in this photo. Picture a statue in the spot where the chandelier hangs.

[Gothick]

Janet darling, Brace yourself:  it's Willie.
In this redaction, the characters of Willie and Matthew Morgan appear to have been combined.

Don't you just LOVE remakes??

cheers, Steve

[KMR]

Who's the freakish hermit to Barnabas' left? Do not tell me that is supposed to be Willie.

Yes, that's Willie.  Looks like they're going for a blend of the characteristics from Karlen's and Fyfe's portrayals (the menace of the former, the misfit nature of the latter).

[Mysterious Benefactor]

In this redaction, the characters of Willie and Matthew Morgan appear to have been combined.

Exactly what I was thinking and just posted before I realized you'd already said the same thing. So, I've edited my post into agreeing with you.    And after all, GMTA. 

231 days 8 hours 14 minutes 39 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Janet the Wicked]

Looks like they found this guy under a rock. But as John would say, "It is what it is."

[Zahir]

I think the basis for the melee was highly justified. I am happy that TPTB has reacted to the justified negative buzz in a timely manner. They do hear us!

Gotta point out--nothing has changed.  The movie looks the way it did last week and last month.  Articles for magazines are usually planned weeks and weeks in advance.  Usually.  Either way, most of the movie was in the can and absolutely nothing any fan did has changed one comma of the script, one twitch of a performance, one frame of any editing, or one note of the soundtrack.  The "melee" was much ado about nothing.  Some photos were snapped on set, given zero context, and then a lot of fans clearly overreacted in a huge way.  Now an official cast photo has been released and we can see all the melee fighters were wrong from the get-go.

BTW, combining Willie and Matthew Morgan goes back to both HODS and the 91 series.  Why is anyone surprised by this?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Looks like they found this guy under a rock.

I think that's exactly what they're going for - as well as a Willie whose personality may be unlike any Willie we've seen before thanks to the infusion of Matthew Morgan.

231 days 8 hours 6 minutes 3 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Janet the Wicked]

Janet darling, Brace yourself:  it's Willie.
In this redaction, the characters of Willie and Matthew Morgan appear to have been combined.

Don't you just LOVE remakes??

I DO NOT! Biggest example of one of the most horrible remakes of ALL TIME is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Another example of where Hollywood should have left well enough alone.
Well, gotta give this DS remake a chance. I find it unfortunate in this and almost all fan fic that Willie comes across as an oaf, a thing, a boob. John Karlen's Willie is nothing short of a tormented, crooked, and handsome bastard. Nuff said.

[Gothick]

Well, Janet--you could think of it as a tribute to John Karlen's unique genius as an actor that no other version of Willie has captured the mixture of avarice, pathos, tragedy and sexiness that he brought to the character.  In my recent re-viewing of hoDS, I was in awe of how many layers Karlen's physicality added to the scripting of Willie in the film--definitely on a par with what Frid and Hall were doing with their characters.  At times Karlen's Willie has a pathos that is nothing short of transcendent.

Just for the record, I didn't see the Jim Fyfe version of Willie as being a combination of Willie and Matthew Morgan.  More like original series Willie crossed with one of Faulkner's divine idiots.

I do think the online fandom "melee" over the pap shots may have influenced the timing of the release of this first photo.  But as in all things, Your Mileage May Vary.

G.

[Janet the Wicked]

Well, as a matter of fact, I couldn't get into the 1991 show, because I do not like remakes.  I was surprised to see how far they went with it though.
One fest I saw the latest remake, and I loved it. The train pulling into the station,,, I thought it was nicely done. The camera work reminded me very much of James Wong Howe. It was very nicely done.  IMHO anyway.
I guess everybody is on the bandwagon about the new flick and critiquing it to no end. Christ, I haven't been to a movie since Armegeddon and that scarted the crap out of me.
Still and always tuned to TCM.