Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Production!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Well there is no way that Shadows will beat out Avengers.  Disney did it right.  They struck a balance for die-hard comic geeks and casual viewers and created a movie that seems to make all audiences happy, garnering multiple viewings.  Warners would seem to have messed it up, alienating many Shadows and Horror fans and simply targeting mainstream, casual viewers.  I am fairly sure it would have been possible for Warners to produce a Dark Shadows film along the lines of what Disney did for Avengers.  But, apparently, they didn't want to.  The movie will probably make money, but it doesn't seem like it's going to be the film people will see over and over again like Avengers.  But who knows...  Maybe it will surprise everyone.   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I think it's an extremely hard call. If the film had been done as a straight up supernatural romance, it may have appealed to DS fans and people who remember the show, but in the general audience many may have looked at it as the same old same old - or worse yet, some rip-off of Twilight - and stayed away in droves because they have no interest in another Twilight or in seeing something they believe ripped that film off (even though DS preceded Twilight by decades). Radically changing things up may actually work to the film's advantage because it may attract people who generally have no interest in supernatural films because they believe they're going to get something different (and there's no disputing that the non-supernatural portion of any potential audience is much larger than the supernatural portion of it is). And it may attract people who are aware of DS as a supernatural soap and are curious to see what Depp/Burton's Gothic sensibility and quirkiness will do with it.

It is nice to see, though, that the box office forecasts are encouraging...

4 days 8 hours 5 minutes 57 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[michael c]

a few more thoughts...

it would appear that barnabas is entombed in 1772(6) childless and without siblings. do we know who the "modern" collins family is descended from? a "new york branch" of the family?

also i was sort of hoping that in the event of a sequel a laura collins storyline would be nice. but since the part of david's mother has been cast as a bit part by an unknown actress does that make it hard for her to be a big player in future stories? also i don't think pheonix's can drown, right? so does that change the character's nature completely?

[LOOKE300]

if this film is a hit why do people only mention other movies and not a new tv show i know they tried a number of times but always failed except for the 91 series but if it is a box office success maybe one of the networks will give it another shot.

[borgosi]

I think a good adult supernatural love story could work very well and get great box office. No one would say that Ghost was anything like Twilight and a straight DS wouldn't have to be anything like Twilight.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The thing is, though, that something like Ghost was long before Twilight and it didn't involve vampires, and nowadays when the general film audience thinks "vampire/human romance" they think Twilight. So, for better or worse, regardless of whether DS would be different, a "vampire/human romance" predjudicial attitude would already be established in the general audience.

4 days 7 hours 27 minutes 25 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

There is no doubt that Warners needed a way to differentiate Shadows from Twilight.  No doubt.  And seeing a redux of the 1991 series would have been boring.  But I still think there was a way of doing Shadows without the overt 1970s references and the silly comedy.  I think it's interesting that Warners/Burton removed the timeless/placeless element of the original series.  What they have produced is a hodgepodge tribute to the decade of the 1970s, using the DS characters as the primary vehicle.  It's an interesting twist, but I think that is to its detriment.  A little bit of the 70s, yeah...  That would be great.  But it's just way overdone here, to the point that it's That '70s Shadows as opposed to Dark Shadows simply set in the 1970s.  It's hammy.  It's campy.  It's the 70s.  But is it Dark Shadows?  I guess the fans will decide if/when they see it.   

[Mysterious Benefactor]

See, but now you're getting more into creativity and I was strictly speaking box office, and they don't necessarily have anything in common because a film can be one of the most creative ever made and still not generate box office, or it can be creatively desolate and still become a huge box office hit. The argument I'm trying to make has nothing to do with how the DS film as made may turn out creatively - it only has to do with the potential problems that would have been inherent in attracting the current general audience to a straight up vampire/human romance version of DS. And no matter how hard Warner Brothers might have tried to differentiate a straight up vampire/human romance version of DS from Twilight, that would have been a huge uphill battle when Twilight and attitudes toward Twilight are so entrenched in the current zeitgeist.

4 days 6 hours 54 minutes 23 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[madscntst]

Personally, I've never really cared about how much DS will make at the box office, other than that I hope it's not a flop and that they are able to make back more than the budget.  The Avengers isn't even in the same universe, because it's a mega-concentration of all the comic book heroes, most of which have individually been among the biggest box office successes ever.  We can't expect the box office to be anywhere near the same, and like I said, I'm not even hoping for that, just for a respectable success.  Many if not most of the movies I like the best aren't among the hugest box office successes.  And unfortunately, horror as a genre tends to be a tough one as far as box office success- I always wonder why more folks don't go out and see the better ones.  Anyway, we'll see what happens.

Anyway, there has just been a press conference somewhere in Hollywood- you can read some tweets about it from CineMovie's twitter.  Unfortunately, there are no photos or videos (yet- hopefully some sanctioned ones will surface).

http://twitter.com/#!/cinemovie

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Totally.  But the creative direction was inspired by the need to bring in big box office numbers and differentiate it from Twilight.  Still, I can't imagine how a straight Johnny Depp vampire film would have had any problems doing well - even if it looked just like Twilight.  Mixing it up a bit is important, but completely altering the mood and genre is what has turned off a lot of the fanbases (And we aren't just talking about DS fans here).  And while they are not important to initial profitability, they do drive the success of a picture.  To 95% of the population, it's just another movie (regardless of the content).  To Warners, establishing a fan-base (tapping into the one that already exists ain't half bad either) is important for continued box office success and possible sequels.  21 Jump Street discounted the fans of the original and did well.  Shadows may do the same.  But there are a lot more Shadows fans (far more casual than diehard) than Jump Streeters.         

[Mysterious Benefactor]

You made a comment that it would have been possible for Warner Brothers to produce a DS film along the lines of what Disney did for The Avengers. And I'm not trying to dispute that they could have.    But what you also said was that apparently they didn't want to. So, all I'm trying to do is offer a theory as to why Warner Brothers may have thought that doing a straight up vampire/human romance version of DS may have been a difficult box office prospect for them and/or may have caused them more headaches than they thought it was worth. After all, as it was Burton has already commented that initially getting Warner Brothers to even do DS at all was a tough sell. So it's pretty much a given that they made the film they though would generate the most box office for them because, when it comes to major studios, nothing is more important than their bottom line. 

4 days 6 hours 6 minutes 25 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Cousin_Barnabas]

Oh, I absolutely agree.  I just think that undercutting the fanbases could have an effect on their long-term profits.  Who knows?  Clearly they did what they thought was best.  We will see how it works for them. 

[Gerard]

Well, Disney must've done some brilliant marketting to get The Avengers to break those records.  Somehow, the studio appealed to fans of comic book characters and undoubtedly quite a few more beyond the genre.  I, however, have no interest in seeing it.  The thought of sitting through a couple hours about the exploits of Colonel United States and Womanamazing and Thunk and Belchman or whatever fighting the evil Dr. Corporatinian would drive me to drink.  But then, to each their own.

One thing to remember, is that this "record-breaking" stuff is actually inflated numbers.  A movie pulls in x-amount of dollars, but that isn't based upon the number of people flooding into theaters, but how much it cost for them to do so.  It costs too darn much to see a movie today and gone are the days when more than 50% of people would often fill the cinemas on a weekly basis.  What was the average price of a ticket for that movie?  Twelve bucks?  More?  A bit less?  When I saw HoDS back in '70, it cost me 35 cents (a matinee - the evening showing cost fifty cents).  I got to the theater two hours before it opened.  By the time it did, the line went all the way down the block and around the corner.  I don't see lines like that at theaters anymore.  Even if a "blockbuster" is playing, the longest the line is at any time is about a half-dozen people.  The last time I saw a down-the-block line was for Independence Day and that was 16 years ago.

The most seen, and - counting for inflation and adjustment to today's dollars - profitable movie ever made was Gone With the Wind.  If one does the adjustment, the made-the-most-money movies like Titanic and Avatar and several others pale in comparison.  My now-deceased mom told me she saw it in 1939 for a dime - 10 cents.  A big bag of popcorn, with butter (real butter), cost a nickel.  Even at the tail end of the Great Depression I, people scraping to make a living could afford to go to the movies and did so in droves, often exceeding 50% a week.  Today, during our current Great Depression II, who can afford to go accept once in a blue moon?  Most people don't go to the movies. 

But congrats to The Avengers for pulling in so much dough.  I'm just curious who saw it.  When I mentioned it to friends, many of them responded:  "The what?"  They never heard of it.  But many of my friends will be going to see DS next Saturday (for a cheaper matinee) and having our DS party celebration (we're still undecided if we want to have brunch before, or "dunch" after).  There are 30 in our group.  Only about four were fans of the show growing up.  The next largest group grew up when it was on but weren't fans and only saw it rarely.  After that comes the group that wasn't around when it first aired and most loathed it when seeing it in reruns, but now can't wait and are really getting into the OS.  They've learned an appreciation because of this film.  We don't care if it breaks records, makes a profit, breaks even or is a flop.  We'll be filling up several rows of seats.  Maybe we'll be the only ones there, but we will have done our part.  We won't make it the next Gone With the Wind, but we'll be in enjoyment nontheless.

Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I just think that undercutting the fanbases could have an effect on their long-term profits.

I suspect the audience Warner Brothers has always had in mind is the general audience, and at least when it comes to DS fans, they've never had targeting us in mind. And their whole trailer and TV spot marketing strategy would seem to confirm that.

4 days 5 hours 35 minutes 18 seconds until the day the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows is released(ET)!!

[Taeylor Collins]

I just purchased my tickets for a Midnight showing of Dark Shadows here in Kentucky. I am sort of shocked they are having a midnight showing but happy. I have to drive about 20 miles but it's well worth it. I have to say that it's amazing that I get to watch DS with my friend Anna who I met 22 years ago through fandom.  To see this movie with her is so special.  DS brought us together and she is my bestie now.  I am so thankful to DS for bringing me to all these wonderful people in my life!!!