Depp/Burton DARK SHADOWS Is In Release!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I just looked up info on Battleship, and apparently it's supposed to have a "limited" IMAX release in "select international IMAX theatres." But who knows what that means? Though I'm sure we'll find out and how or if it affects DS...

5 days 16 hours 9 minutes 29 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[Gothick]

Another fan just sent me a link for a page on eBay that has on display a number of marketing trinkets tied in for the 2012 movie.  The title and the "Strange is relative" logo are featured on these tchotchkes.  There's a wine stopper, a Barnabas cane letter opener, a sleeping mask (!), a cherry-red flight bag that seems very "Pan Am," and a t-shirt with BarnaDepp on the front.

I would hope that WB has a shop, either on the movie page or elsewhere, where fans could purchase these items.  It's hard to imagine they were dumb enough to only produce a few as giveaways at premieres but maybe that's what they did?

Just getting the word out because I know some of you out there will want to collect ALL of these goodies.

happy hunting!

G.

[jimbo]

Gothick I sure hope you are right. It's been my experience on Ebay that most promotional items given to the crew or media are never provided to the general public. Perhaps WB will make some available at its website.

[madscntst]

Johnny is also known for giving the whole crew some kind of gift to commemorate the show- usually a t-shirt or jacket but I think there have been some others (I don't really keep track, because it's depressing that the mere mortals can't get them easily   )  But sometimes some end up on eBay, usually for $$$$$ if they're the real deal. 

Besides The Dictator opening, many films do better on Tuesdays than Mondays because a lot of theaters offer Tuesday discounts or free popcorn or something.  I didn't know that until I started hanging out at the old Box Office Mojo discussion board, but now when I see a good Tuesday I'm happy but I just keep in mind that Tuesdays are usually better.  I'm HOPING that the audience for The Dictator will be different than the DS audience, and that the effect of it opening will be minimal, but I guess we'll see.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

If they keep marketing Shadows as they are, I can't imagine a different kind of audience.  If they actually represented the whole film in their ads, maybe...

[David]

The film made about 6 million more on Mon/Tues.
Worldwide gross has passed $71 million--it should break even sometime next week.

By the time pay-per-view, premium channels & DVD/Blu-ray kick in, profits could be considerable.
I'm sure there will be more DS movies after this.

[Cousin_Barnabas]

If we do see other DS films, which I am still uncertain of at this point, I wonder if they will come in the form of sequels or reboots.  I wouldn't necessarily mind a reboot.  Burton has had his vision of "Dark Shadows."  And it was his vision.  We have to respect that.  But I'd love for another director, screenwriter to be brought on board for a different take on the material.  IMO, you can maintain Depp as Barnabas, but it needs a fresh perspective.  There was only so much you could do with the 70s music and the cute montages...  It can't continue and be anywhere as effective, despite the fact that I didn't think it was all that effective here.  So how about 1795 on film?  Or Dark Shadows without Barnabas?  The character set-up was so good before he arrived, and then it all went to pieces.  Kind of like in the original.    

[jimbo]

I agree with you CB.

The special effects team discusses how they did it. http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news/?NewsID=3358282

[Mysterious Benefactor]

All the details about the CGI were very interesting - thanks so much for the link, jimbo. 

Though why whoever wrote the article had to offer the opinion that the original show was "frankly terrible" is anyone's guess. But I suppose we should be used to it by now...

6 days 11 hours 25 minutes 16 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[IluvBarnabas]

I think it's more likely we'll see a sequel rather than a reboot. I can't imagine Burton, having been such a big fan of DS, wanting to hand over the reins over to someone else so quickly.

Honestly I really enjoyed watching Barnabas trying to fit in to the 20th century, and truth be told, there's really only so much you put into a 2 hour movie. I wouldn't have minded seeing a bit more of the triangle between Barnabas, Josette and Angelique, but that is my only quibble.

It remains to be seen whether a sequel will be in the cards. Even if it isn't, I am satisfied with what we did get. For other DS fans who weren't satisfied, well, we still do have the original show and the 1991 revival.

[David]

I'm so fed up with the dissing of DS left and right. If you don't like a show, don't watch it.
Star Trek had sub-par episodes, and great episodes, just like DS.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

On Wednesday DS slipped down to third place with $1,841,116 - but that's hardly a surprise given the release of The Dictator. Its current domestic gross is now $36,449,053.

Wednesday Box Office

6 days 16 hours 12 minutes 44 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[jimbo]

Sometimes the reply feature disappears here and now it reappeared. The Avengers also dropped to 25% from yesterday. The number of screens remained the same for DS.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's interesting. As madscntst pointed out yesterday, Tuesday's box office tends to go up because of theater promotions. But I wonder what it is that tends to make Wednesday's box office the lowest of the week? (Check back through the charts.) Maybe it's midweek blues and fewer people want to see a film. Or maybe a lot of people have already spent all of their disposable income before Wednesday so they need to wait to get paid. 

The number of screens remained the same for DS.

If the screens are going to change, I would suspect they won't change until Friday...

6 days 16 hours 26 minutes 52 seconds since the Depp/Burton Dark Shadows has been in release(ET)!!

[Brandon Collins]

I went and saw the film again today, and I have to admit that it definitely plays better the second time around. Generally it takes time for things to sink in for me before I can really enjoy then fully and get a well-rounded opinion of whatever I'm watching.

Where before I thought there wasn't enough development with almost all of the characters, now I limit that list primarily to Roger and David, and their ensuing storylines and relationships therein. Angelique did seem as if she was some sort of throwaway foil for Barnabas, but I think that their past was adequately explained enough for the remainder of the film to make at least some sort of sense for the progression of the plot.

Also this time around, the film struck me more of an adaptation of HODS, just with the inclusion of Angelique at the villain instead of Barnabas.

I know there was speculation as to why Angelique began to crack up during the climax fight. My theory is that perhaps when Barnabas bit her outside of Collinwood he drained whatever life she had in her and this caused her to start to fall apart. Another, and perhaps more forward thinking theory in terms of a sequel is that maybe this was not the real Angelique but possibly a decoy she put into place so no harm would come to her. In any event, just because they showed her "dying" does not mean that she is truly gone, as we all know too well.

All in all I enjoyed the movie much better this time around, and I think it helped that I was one of three people in the theater because I attended the first showing of the day. Without the laughter from other audience members to so abruptly call out the sometimes absurd moments of the film, it was much smoother as a whole and the light humor wasn't as blatant.