Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[jimbo]

New DS movie tie-in book. http://darkshadowsnews.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-dark-shadows-movie-tie-in-book.html

I agree Michael C-that would be great.

Madscntst thanks for the links. I am still hoping for an R-rating on many levels.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Even if there's a scene of Victoria arriving in Collinsport on a train, that doesn't necessarily mean that the film won't open with Barnabas' backstory. All the events prior to 1972 could play out in chronological order, but rather than Barnabas' release being the first thing seen in 1972, it could be Victoria's arrival. Or her arrival could be seen directly after his release. Or both events could be intercut. Or the film could actually open with Victoria's arrival and Barn's backstory could be used as flashbacks. Who knows how the film will be edited? And even the chronology of how things might play out in the script wouldn't necessarily be an indication of how the finished film will play because scenes are often jumbled around in the editing process. The WB Press Release might be a reflection of the order of how things play out in the script, but Burton could and possibly will decide to change the chronology. After all, one need look no further than the chronology of certain scenes in hoDS, NoDS, the '91 Series, and the '04 WB pilot as examples of how some scenes play out in a different order (and sometimes in quite a different order) from the way they appear in those scripts. It might prove very interesting when we see the film and then we (hopefully) see the script (in KLS' book).

As for the smoking issue, I wish I could remember the name of the film that had so much trouble with the MPAA earlier this year. There were all sorts of articles on the Internet about the battle. But I'm drawing a complete blank...

172 days 11 hours 10 minutes 10 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

New DS movie tie-in book.

Interesting if that's going to be the cover because it's pretty much perfect. And while I would have probably preferred a book exclusively about the film, it makes perfect sense to tie it in with the original series and to provide a complete DS history - especially when one considers that the film will hopefully expose DS to many new people.

Unfortunately, there's no specific mention of the film's script being included. It does say "production materials" will be included - and that could encompass the script - but with the book only being 200 pages, that would seem unlikely. After all, hoDS' script takes up 135 pages of the DS Movie Book - and NoDS takes up 123 pages. But I suppose we'll see...

I am still hoping for an R-rating on many levels.

I have to admit that I'm still on the fence because PG-13 and R both have their advantages...

172 days 10 hours 49 minutes 47 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[michael c]

hmmm...

the slightly vague language used to describe the book..."overview of the show's history"..."rare photographs"..."unique archival elements"...and "behind the scenes anecdotes" from scott, parker, frid and selby sounds suspiciously like another KLS/Pompress rehash than anything truly new or a genuine account of the new film.

how many more "rare photographs" can scott pull out of the shoebox. that well is dry.

i smell a rat.

[jimbo]

These days they sell the complete movie scripts separately in book form. I think Inception is one. I can't remember the others right now. I was hoping for a book just on the filming on the new movie.
I think the cover is pretty good. Hope they don't leave out the 1991 series.
I do believe the movie will be in chronological order with flashbacks dispersed throughout the movie. 1752, 1772 and it goes directly into 1972 with Victoria's train scene.

[Gothick]

KLS and the others were only at Pinewood for a day or two at most.  Unless Burton's people decide to be super generous (which I doubt), I do not think she would have enough material from that brief encounter to fill a book length memoir.  That accounts for the inclusion of other material in the book.  There's been mention of "previously unpublished photographs" in the Hermes Press reprints of the Gold Key comic books, so it does seem as if KLS truly has even more photos sitting around at home we haven't seen, although the quality of anything being excavated now may be somewhat dubious if all the best shots were weeded for her numerous previous books about the show.  (I still laugh when I recall somebody telling me around 2004 that KLS had informed the individual that she "wasn't doing anymore Dark Shadows books" out of PomPress.)

I am sure there will be a number of media tie-in pubs for this project.  Given the screenwriter's rep I am sure there will be a script book, and there will probably be a third book that is set photos, etc. for the Depp fan market.

On the topic of how the 2012 movie will be edited, I would be very surprised if the story is told in "chronological order" starting with 1752. I expect the movie to begin with Victoria's arrival at Collinsport, perhaps counterpointed with scenes of [spoiler]Barnabas' coffin being excavated, as described in the Empire mag article.[/spoiler] But Burton may change his mind about a lot of things as he goes through his usual intensive, prolonged and elaborate postproduction work on the film.  We may end up with only brief snippets and clips from the 18th century sequences.  At least in this era of extras-laden DVD releases, we can expect at least some deleted scenes when the movie hits the home video market.

G.

[michael c]

KLS was only onset for two days when she filmed her cameo and obviously she's not involved in any of the film's editing or postproduction work. so even though it seems as if she's read the script i'll bet her insights are minimal.

NONE of the film's key participants are mentioned as being interviewed or involved with the book at all. just "anecdotes" from the OS actors on their cameos. anecdotes on a two day cameo shoot.

again, this is likely just another variation on KLS/Pompress books we've all seen. and you can bet your bottom dollar she'll be seated at a table with STACKS of them at next year's fest.

[michael c]

since KLS herself was not personally involved in the 1991 series it is something of the forgotten stepchild in the Pompress DS world.

so it's inclusion in this new book will likely be minimal at best.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

how many more "rare photographs" can scott pull out of the shoebox. that well is dry.

I don't necessarily take "rare photographs" to mean new ones. They could also be ones that have only ever been previously published in one or two other articles or one other book. So, in that sense, KLS could possibly have dozens of photo where calling them "rare" could be gotten away with.    But that being said, I'm constantly surprised by how many actual new photos do seem to continue to surface. For example, there are 7 photos in the 2010 DS Fest Calendar that I'd never seen before. Granted, some are very similar to photos I have seen - but it's just that they're different shots from the same session as the ones that I've seen. And as Gothick points out, eventually it's going to get to the point where the quality of any new photos is going to be dubious at best because quite obviously there was a reason why they were rejected in the first place.  

KLS was only onset for two days when she filmed her cameo and obviously she's not involved in any of the film's editing or postproduction work. so even though it seems as if she's read the script i'll bet her insights are minimal.

NONE of the film's key participants are mentioned as being interviewed or involved with the book at all. just "anecdotes" from the OS actors on their cameos. anecdotes on a two day cameo shoot.

I was going to say something extremely similar in reply to your earlier comment about this. And when it comes to KLS and Lara Parker, both have already made several comments at this year's Comic Cons about their time on the set of the film, so it would seem that anyone who attended those events or has simply watched those videos will already know much of what they may write about in the book. In fact, in one of the video's from the NYC Comic Con, KLS specifically says that what she's about to tell the audience is something she just finished writing about for the book. Though at least when it comes to Selby and Frid, they haven't said much about their time on set, so what they write could potentially be fresh. Though even with them, a couple days on set does not a wealth of material make. And all that now has me questioning just how much of the book will actually be devoted to the new film and how much will be devoted to rehashing what we've already heard, read and seen numerous times?  

The only potentially good thing about the rehashing is that it will inform any new people who are just coming to DS through the film. Though how many of them will actually buy the book is anyone's guess...

172 days 9 hours 11 minutes 2 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I still laugh when I recall somebody telling me around 2004 that KLS had informed the individual that she "wasn't doing anymore Dark Shadows books" out of PomPress.

KLS first said that around 1997, but lo and behold the DS Movies Book came out in 1998. And it's really no secret where she got the initial idea from once one realizes that not all that long after the Webmaster of her Pompress site began e-mailing the Webmaster of the now defunct DS Movies Website, the DS Movies Book was suddenly announced. Though I'm not about to fault KLS for going back on her word in the case of that book because it's one of my favorite PomPress books.

I am sure there will be a number of media tie-in pubs for this project.  Given the screenwriter's rep I am sure there will be a script book, and there will probably be a third book that is set photos, etc. for the Depp fan market.

Well, potentially there's going to be a book on the film by Mark Salisbury that will be targeted at the Depp fan market. Though we still have yet to hear more details on it or if it will even be published at all...

Given that at this point the PomPress book seems likely to be a disappointment regarding the new film, hopefully Salisbury's book will be published.

172 days 8 hours 35 minutes 5 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

I hate to interrupt the discussion, but I just noticed something which made me stop to think.  The order of the cast listing has not changed in the main section, but it has changed in the "Overview" area which lists the top three stars.  Now, Michelle Pfeiffer comes before Eva Green.  Is there some sort of technical reason behind this or is this an indication that the billing has changed?  Any thoughts? 

As an aside, I have always thought Michelle Pfeiffer should be before Green - not only because of her career, but also because of her role.  I mean she IS playing Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I don't know if we should necessarily read too much into that as everywhere else on IMDb as well as everywhere on IMDbPro billing is still listed as Depp, Green, Pfeiffer, ...

But with IMDb who knows?  

172 days 6 hours 6 minutes 4 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Thanks, MB.  I didn't think it meant much, but it would be interesting if the billing did eventually change, perhaps as a result of post-production work.  And maybe that is why we haven't gotten a poster yet...  Again, I just love to speculate about these things.   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's unlikely anything in post-production would have an effect on Michelle Pfeiffer's billing. Billing and order of billing is contractual regardless of how an actor's work in a film is eventually used. Well, unless an actor is completely edited out, in which case their name may disappear from the credits. Though there are cases where even if an actor has been completely edited out of a film or TV show, their name still appears in the credits because it's contractually obligated to appear. (Such a case occurs in the '91 Series where Wayne Tippit's name appears as part of the guest cast's listing for Ep #4 even though his Dr. Fisher is nowhere to be seen in the ep. (The only thing that seems to even exist of his part in that ep is a photo published in the DS Resurrected book.))

172 days 5 hours 39 minutes 13 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Hmmm...  Very interesting.  Thanks for the info, and that neat tidbit on the '91 series.  I always assumed that screentime could change the order of the billing.  But, if it is all contractual and that has nothing to do with anything, my theory is wrong.  Are contracts so specific as to guarantee second, third, and fourth billing?  What if they only guaranteed that Pfeiffer and Green would be above the title?  That could change things, right?  So, do you know how specific the contracts usually get?  I don't know anything about it, so any insight would be appreciated.  Since this movie, I am now fascinated with a lot of aspects of the film industry that I never really cared about before!  Thanks a lot, Johnny Depp.