Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[michael c]

the cut-and-paste trailer reveals a few things...

i noticed that in some clips of the family at the breakfast table they are eating on mismatched crockery and there is tarnished silver on the sideboards. in others highly polished silver and matching china.

so i'm wondering if barnabas provides collinwood with the "fix up" he gave the old house on the OS. is that what the party is being thrown for?

he announces that he wants to restore the family business to it's "former glory". is that stash of family jewels hiding somewhere?

[neiljohnson]

Michael C, I think you are exactly right. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I suspect Barnabas does fix up Collinwood. For one, he's supposedly disgusted when he discovers the condition it's in. And for two, we've seen photos of the outdoor set with beautiful landscaping, but when Barnabas is standing in front of what the trailer seems to imply may be the newly finished 1772 version of Collinwood, there is only bare landscaping. Of course, that doesn't mean that they can't add more landscaping for subsequent scenes in 1772 - but we've been lead to believe that 1772 is only a small fraction of the film, so it would seem more likely they would go through the trouble of extensive landscaping for 1972 where the effort would be allowed to be showcased more often. But who knows? All that circumstantial evidence could prove to be completely wrong.

46 days 11 hours 48 minutes 44 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Midnite]

Saw this movie tie-in on Kathy Cody's page posted by a fan: Orly Dark Shadows 2012 Nail Polish Collection  Love those crazy names, and only $8.50 ea.

Included is info for a chance to win a private movie screening with 50 friends.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Thank for the photos of Alice Cooper, madscntst. 

I'm sort of jealous that you've already received your KLS book from Amazon because they didn't ship my copy until today and I supposedly won't receive it until Thursday. Though things often arrive before they tell me they will.

As for Colleen Atwell vs. Colleen Atwood, well, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it really is a typo. 

And don't worry about double posting because new info is always appreciated. 


And yes, Midnite - those nail polish names are too funny    - but perfect for DS.    Thanks for sharing the info. 

46 days 10 hours 49 minutes 52 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Midnite]

Front page of today's Calendar section of the LA Times:
Undying Quirk  'Dark Shadows' reinterprets a favorite show from its director's and star's youths. As adults, they're having fun with it.

See Reply #3123 for a link to the text of the article on the Times' blog, and it includes a couple of the same photos-- Burton and Depp hashing out a scene, and Depp in front of the portrait that's half-page sized.  Also, Lara Parker's Angelique next to the original portrait (and the fact that she's sporting fangs might be confusing to the new fan).

[Gothick]

I wonder whether the nail polish tie-in has to do with Orly getting the contract to do Depp's fake fingernail manicures for the film.  The high resolution photos certainly do show them to be an unusual shade of pink.

I was thinking about parody this weekend while revisiting the 1967 Casino Royale.  It seems as if the reaction to its release back then paralleled in some ways what is happening with Depp Shadows.  The 1967 film is now regarded, by some of us at least, as a masterpiece and brilliant time capsule of its era.  But back then most critics and moviegoers treated it as "Bomb, James Bomb."  Re-watching this film from a bygone era (the same era that gave us original series DS of course) made me realize that the eventual response to Depp Shadows could be a more nuanced one than I had hitherto conceived.

For myself, watching the trailers and the rest of the Depp Shadows runup unfold has clarified for me that I'm no longer interested--if I ever really was interested--in any Dark Shadows remakes, period.  I know people follow KLS's lead in saying DS is like Shakespeare and every actress deserves to give her take on Josette (or whoever).  But to me, DS wasn't like a theatrical epic; it was like the part of my family I never met--the people who were like ME (which nobody else in my real family ever was).  To that extent, I like the publicists' angle about every family having its weirdies or however they're phrasing. 

If I walked into a room and saw somebody portraying my Aunt Lillian, and not only that, had the imposter who was supposed to be her running around in a crushed velvet cape with five hundred pounds of pancake makeup, it would be jarring and I wouldn't be able to "just get used to it."  To me, DS is a cast of characters portrayed by Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Joan Bennett et al. as they were 40 years ago. 

I don't think I will ever be able to get through to some of you how it all makes me feel... this is my last attempt at it.

Enjoy the movie.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Luck today! I was just scanning through the basketball game and discovered that at 2:29 ET a 30 second spot with all sorts of new scenes was shown. (Scenes that answer all sorts of questions and seem to beg one huge question!) However, video and screen caps may not be forthcoming until later tonight because I need my computer to do several other things and I'm not quite sure how long they're going to take me. Though who knows if there may be another spot before today's games are over because, as I said, Warner Brothers had a few different spots for Wrath of the Titans yesterday.

46 days 8 hours 35 minutes 3 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Midnite]

Sounds very intriguing, MB, and thank your for your vigilance.  Looking forward to your vid and images!

[usffan]

Luck today! I was just scanning through the basketball game and discovered that at 2:29 ET a 30 second spot with all sorts of new scenes was shown. (Scenes that answer all sorts of questions and seem to beg one huge question!)

Thank God!  I felt bad that I'd mentioned seeing it on the basketball games and then saw that you'd skimmed the games yesterday in vain looking for it.  I didn't catch the commercial today and am anxious to see the screen captures as well as learn about the questions (answered and revealed) from the newest one. 

I saw The Hunger Games yesterday with my daughter, who is a fan of the books.  I personally thought the movie was just OK.  They did have a large number of previews, including the original trailer we've seen for Dark Shadows.   I didn't detect any reaction (positive or negative) from the audience. 

[borgosi]

It could be that TB & JD were big fans of DS when it was first on but never watched it after it left the air. If so there memories could have been very different for what the show was really like. They may have gotten the rights to do the movie and then watched the show and only then decided to make it a comedy.

I know there are movies that I loved as a child only to laugh at them as an adult, one would be The Giant Claw.

[Taeylor Collins]

I think I can certainly understand what you are saying GOTHICK. I have watched GENERAL HOSPITAL for 23 years and they are like my family as well. I cried all week last week when Robin was killed. However, I don't think I would be opposed to a big film adaptation of General Hospital.  The rest of the post is general and not directed to anyone in particular, well maybe those nuts on Facebook...

If anything perpetuates  Dark Shadows and brings new fans to the show or fandom then that makes me happy. And for me, no one seems to understand what I mean by that.  I just want DS to have a new generation, we need fresh blood in fandom, we need people in fandom.  How can one judge an entire movie based on a trailer???  I say that to myself. It looks good to me but I may hate it; however, I am still going to suppport the movie and give it a shot.

Again I have 8 friends who are going to watch the original after they see the movie? Is that not a good thing? I cannot for the life of me understand  those original fans who are hell bent on boycotting and trying to make this fail.  I just feel it's sad that we have such a close minded fandom ) I understand what your say in) who are not open to anything new.  When Star Trek Next Generation came out I remember Trekkie's being so upset and we all know how that turned out. It lead to three more series and a reboot of prequels.  That is all I want is DS to endure is some way shape or form.

I totally respect you Gothick your a good friend of mine and I can totally see where you are coming from. 

I went to see Hunger Games last night BTW way and when the DS trailer came on people were howling and laughing and enjoying the trailer here in Kentucky.  Maybe it will go over well with us southerners!

If they never watched they certainly have a good mind.  The Collinsport Star is a nod, the part is a nod, Bill Malloy is a nod, the whole Angelique vs Barnabs is a nod to the first year with Burke and the Collins family. I can't see them not watching some of the source material.  If they didn't they sure have great minds. Perhaps they read the scripts??

I clicked on the YOUTUBE trailer that was with the nails polish (love the names) and there is really a lot of good comments.  As others have said, yes we have nods to us fans, yes we have four of our originals and lots of other great stuff as a wink and nod to the fans.  However, this movie was made to introduce a new generation to DS.  And I have no doubt many (like me after the 1991 version ended) will definitely check out the original.  And that is what I care about most of all.  That people will come to the original and perpetuate the show for another 46 years.

Again just my thoughts. I respect everyone's opinion.  However, I do feel every Dark Shadows fan should go watch the movie and help to perpetuate the show on and on.  I may get yelled at; but I think it's our duty to give it a chance whether we like or hate the trailer.

[Phil]

Here's the new spot, darlings.

http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/28882?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Or here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssdzVWNXQZ0

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That is definitely the spot - though why the aspect ratio of both of those is 4X3 and not 16X9 is anyone's guess. 

I was just going to post that I was surprised to realize that Angelique doesn't appear to be in it. And I say "doesn't appear" because the big question I was referring to earlier is who is that woman that Roger is kissing in the last scene? It almost looks like Liz (which would certainly bring new meaning to "incestors"), but I suspect it's more likely to be Victoria (which would be interesting), or Angelique, or perhaps even some female character that we're unaware of at this point...

Also, CBS ran the spot again at 5:32 ET, so it looks like it's the only version they'll be showing today - and it's probably the last time they'll show it during today's games.

46 days 5 hours 58 minutes 42 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[michael c]

that is stunningly different in feel than the trailer. if that had been released first we might have seen less outrage from the outer limits of this fanbase.

to digress back to gothick's remarks...

i know what you mean. the OS cast is in a funny way real to me in a way that no other film or television cast is. joan is liz. alexandra is vicki.

yet despite that, and while a comedy is certainly not what i expected or wanted, this appeals to me for some reason.

alot of it i think is casting. when the 2004 series was underway i couldn't get excited about the casting. i couldn't get into marley shelton as victoria. and kelly hu as julia and blair brown as liz were as wrong as any piece of casting i've ever seen. the rest were unmemorable.

yet here bella seems like a charming vicki. hbc looks like a hoot as the good doctor. michelle a standout as liz. the more i see the trailer the more i like eva as angelique. the rest of the supporting roles looks like fun.

and visually, in terms of sets and costuming and art direction, it looks sumptuous.

so, yeah, the "chevy" and other lame jokes fall flat but i'm intrigued about the rest of it enough to still be excited.